The Happily Ever After Bookshop
by Kittenshift17
Summary: Hermione's comfortable life running her bookshop and being in love with her muggle boyfriend, Tom Franklin, is thrown into chaos when Draco Malfoy comes wandering into her shop and back into her life. Some advice from Draco that hits a nerve spurs her to tell Tom the truth about being a witch and results in a not so Happily Ever After. Can a certain blonde bring her happiness back?
1. An Unexpected Meeting

**The Happily Ever After Bookshop**

**Chapter 1: An Unexpected Meeting**

Draco didn't know why he'd come. Morbid curiosity seemed the most likely reason. He stood on the quiet London street staring up at the sign over the door. There was nothing fancy about the place, nothing to draw a body inside to want to see what might be on offer within the shelves. At least nothing that he could discern. He'd expected perfectly hand-crafted signage, warmth and efficiency.

Instead the little book shop was entirely unremarkable.

Others of the same ilk were usually warm and inviting with enticing signs and fanciful books displayed in the windows to lure customers in. He supposed the name on the door might be considered enticing, "_**The Happily Ever After Bookshop"**_ it read but the name didn't seem to match the overall mood of the store, at least not the mood it displayed from the street.

The name of the store was written in cursive font with gold paint. The background was ruby red and Draco rolled his eyes at the familiar and clichéd Gryffindor house colours. Another sign in the window, this one some abhorrent shade of neon blue advertised "_**Books Bought and Sold."**_

That alone ought to have told him everything he needed to know. What sort of person was interested in second hand books? Draco would certainly never buy a book second hand, or anything else for that matter. That was like a hand-me-down and Malfoy's were far too rich to indulge in such poor person antics.

Staring at the store he wondered how on earth it could possibly be in business. As far as he was aware this little place had opened up over a year ago and yet it was still running, though as he attempted to peer through the window he wondered how that could be so. He couldn't see through the front window. Instead of a nice display of the latest and most popular books, the entire front window was filled with the page ends of hundreds of books. No titles were displayed, no clever strategy to lure folks inside to buy something.

Just page ends and mismatched covers. None of them seemed to fit together in any kind of order from what he could see and Draco wondered what the inside might be like. The street the bookshop was situated on was a quiet one in Hoxton. To the left of the bookshop was a café and to the right there was beauty parlour. Draco supposed that it was well situated in regard to people stopping in to randomly buy a book. After all if he were likely to get his hair done or have to sit and wait for a friend at a café he supposed it would be most convenient to have a bookshop so handy to stop in and grab a novel to help pass the time.

Draco stared harder at the little store. There was nothing remarkable or even all that attractive about it, and yet he felt the inexplicable urge to wander inside and peruse the shelves. He wondered if it was merely the morbid curiosity at entering simply because he knew the owner of the store and for some reason had gotten it into his head that he should investigate, or if there was something more to the modest little place that lured him in.

Regardless of what it was, Draco found himself going to the door, which was painted a cheery shade of yellow marred only by a sign saying "_**Welcome" **_and another saying_** "Watch Your Step." **_ Draco found himself cursing softly when he was too busy reading the sign to actually heed the warning and he tripped on the slightly raised doorstep. A bell above the door tinkled as he entered, and Draco was greeted by a rush of warm air that immediately relieved the chill of the late winter afternoon outside.

The store was packed full of books. Wooden shelves painted black displayed thousands of books and everywhere he looked Draco saw little signs indicating genre and alphabetical letters within each genre. He was unsurprised by the meticulous layout of the place, it was just as he had suspected she would organise a bookshop. He was surprised however, when he noticed that throughout the store she had given up precious space that could be occupied by more shelves and more stacks of books in favour of a squashy chintz armchair, or an antique table, a bench with stools against a section of wall to allow readers the chance to sit down and enjoy a book.

Beside the entrance was a coat rack and a stack of wireframe baskets for those buying in bulk. Draco smirked to see it, knowing from past experience that the owner of the store herself was one of the most likely candidates in need of a basket. Soft piano music played somewhere and Draco was surprised by the way the slow, steady music without lyrics was so peaceful. Taking off his coat, Draco hung it from the hook by the door though he wasn't entirely sure he felt comfortable leaving it there when he saw the other coats on the hooks which looked much cheaper than his own cashmere overcoat.

Striding slowly into the store, taking in every detail, Draco wondered suddenly why he had come. For more than a year now there had been publications in the paper about Hermione Granger and the way she had quit her job at the Ministry for Magic in favour of opening up a bookstore. He knew from stories in the _Daily Prophet_ that there were many who felt it was a waste of her vast talents ad more still who thought she should not have been allowed to open up a bookstore that catered to both muggles and magic folk, especially outside of Diagon Alley.

Idly Draco remembered reading that there was a section of the store muggles were unable to see. Much like the entrance to Platform 9 ¾ there was a small section of wall that to muggles looked like a wall advertising upcoming publications but to wizards and witches was an entrance into the magical sector of the store.

There had been a constant stream of stories about Granger since the war had ended, surrounding the lives of the _**Golden Trio**_ as they helped to testify for and against people put on trial by the Ministry after the war. Granger herself had testified at Draco's own hearing about the way he had helped them at the Manor when they'd been brought before his parents, lying about who he thought Harry Potter was while his face was so swollen and disfigured by the Stinging Hex she'd used on him. For years now the media had followed the trio, documenting the burgeoning relationship between Weasley and Granger, Granger's return to Hogwarts after the war, Weasley and Potter becoming Aurors, Granger getting a position at the Ministry within the Regulation of Magical Creatures Department.

More recently there had been stories on Granger and Weasley calling it quits, and Granger getting into a new relationship, this time with a muggle man, though Draco couldn't for the life of him recall the git's… er, person's name. Even more recently there had been speculation over Granger quitting her job to instead start up a bookshop.

In all that time during the eight years since the war, Draco hadn't paid any mind to Granger's life and dealings though they were often splashed across the gossip page of the Daily Prophet. He still had no idea why he'd come to the store beyond the fact that he had recently purchased a block of units a few blocks away. The top floor he had converted entirely into a penthouse apartment for himself. The rest of the units too he had renovated and was now selling for a million pounds a unit.

Living in the area had finally brought him into contact with Granger's store, though he'd only remembered after his mother had asked him if he had ever visited the store Granger had opened, telling him that she'd heard good things from others, even the Greengrass women supposedly swore it was a compelling place to visit. Amid the conversation his mother had also made derogatory comments about Granger dating a muggle and the idea of anyone wanting to associate with both muggles and magic folk within a line of business.

Draco peered around the store, noticing for the first time a counter with a cash register. A girl in her teens sat behind it and Draco almost smiled when he saw that she hadn't looked up when he entered, too consumed in the book she was hunched over as she read to pass the time. He liked that. There was nothing worse in a bookshop than pushy sales clerks or over eager assistants. Bookshops were supposed to be places where one could peruse the shelves at their own leisure and seek assistance only if they required.

Behind the girl there was a sign on the wall that said "_**Can't find what you're looking for? Let us assist you. We are happy to order in anything you need**_."

Draco nodded absently as he read it. He glanced around wondering where Granger could be and why she would be employing a teenager to work the till when she wasn't really doing that much business.

"Can I help you?" the girl at the desk asked him in a soft voice when she felt him staring. Draco smirked a little. She was a muggle girl; that much was obvious by her working in the shop. Any witch her age would be away at Hogwarts. She had fluffy blonde hair she'd tried to tame with an Alice-band. It hadn't worked. Instead the flyaway strands stuck out around it in a way that reminded Draco of a lion's mane. Her eyes were shielded by oval shaped spectacles, and pinned to the front of her blue jumper was a name tag that read "_**Emily**_."

"Is Granger here?" Draco found himself asking her before he realised what he was saying.

"She's unpacking our latest shipment in the back at the moment, cataloguing them. Hermione!"

Draco jumped when the girl, Emily, suddenly shouted for Granger.

"Oh, you didn't need to interrupt her. I just wondered if she was here…." Draco trailed off lamely when the girl just stared at him drolly.

"It's fine, we get people asking after her a lot. She'll be out in a sec."

"What is it Emily?" Draco heard Granger's bossy tones call back to the girl "Is the register jammed again?"

Draco was startled when she came striding into the front room of the shop. He wasn't really expecting to see her, which was foolish of course since he'd just walked into her bookshop.

"No, no" Emily assured the woman "The register is fine…. This fellow asked after you."

Draco was still too busy staring at Granger to notice the way Emily was eyeing him. Dressed in muggle jeans and a snug fitting black sweater, she looked good. Her long frizzy hair was pulled up in a messy knot on top of her head and she had some dust marks smeared across her jeans, no doubt from hefting boxes.

Clearly used to having strange visitors ask for her, she turned to him with a wide, welcoming smile. Draco watched the way it sputtered and died right there on her face when she realised who he was.

"Malfoy?" She asked as though she wasn't entirely sure it was him. Draco wondered why she needed to ask. He hadn't changed in the past eight years.

"Granger" he greeted her politely, not entirely sure what else to say since he hadn't even really thought out why he was there in the first place, let alone what he would say to the woman he had been needlessly cruel to during their years at Hogwarts.

"What are you doing here?" She asked him, eyeing him suspiciously.

Thinking of a lie quickly, Draco fixed her a droll stare and replied "I'm looking for a book Granger, I thought perhaps that I might find one in a bookstore."

Her cheeks turned pink as she blushed.

"What you're looking for is probably through here" She told him curtly, spinning on her heels and walking away through the rooms of the store. Draco glanced at the muggle at the counter who was smirking as though she was amused by Granger's reaction to him. Draco followed after Granger.

"The magical books are through here" She told him, pointing towards the wall covered in posters.

"I don't need a magical book Granger" Draco told her, watching her closely and noticing the way she seemed to grow flustered beneath his gaze.

"Then what sort of book are you looking for?" She asked him and Draco could tell she was gritting her teeth to remain polite and businesslike towards a customer, even one she didn't particularly like.

"I'm looking for a cook book" Draco lied quickly.

"You know how to cook?" she asked incredulously.

"Of course I know how to cook" Draco replied shortly.

"I wouldn't have expected you to, what with all those elves to wait on you hand and foot."

"I only have one House Elf, Granger," Draco replied, smirking now "And thanks to your work at the Ministry I pay him a Galleon a month and allow him sick days whenever he needs them. I can assure you that Bartley is well taken care of."

She didn't reply and Draco stared at her.

"Erm… Well were you looking for a cook book that offers some of the foods we have in the magical world, or would you prefer a regular muggle cook book?"

"I don't know Granger" Draco replied mildly, "You're the expert on books, what would you recommend?"

"Um…" She bit her lip for a moment "Probably a magical cook book. I doubt you'd know how to use muggle technologies that would be mentioned in a muggle cookbook."

Draco followed her as she stepped through the wall into the magical section.

"I could learn to use them" he argued with her merely for the sake of having something to say.

"And then you'd probably go out and buy something like a microwave and put one of your stirling silver mixing bowls from potions in it and blow the bloody thing up."

"Aww Granger I didn't know you cared" Draco sneered.

"I don't, but I can just imagine that you would find some way to discredit me for selling you a muggle book in the first place" she retorted "This shelf here is the cooking section. Pay Emily if you find anything you want to buy."

She started to walk away from him and Draco smirked, thinking quickly.

"Where's the muggle cooking section?"

"What?" She asked, turning back as though she was already distracted and forgotten he was there.

"The muggle cook books, where are they?"

"This way" she said and Draco could tell she was finding him completely insufferable. Draco followed her back through the store as she led him to a much larger section of cookbooks offered to muggles.

"Will that be all?" she asked him curtly.

Before Draco could reply, they were interrupted.

"Hermione, darling there you are" a man called to her. Draco eyed him coldly. He had short brown hair and a thin build. He was what Draco would call weedy, a little on the short side compared to himself and probably a nerd. Ignoring Draco the man came forwards and embraced Granger, who looked surprised and awkward. Draco didn't miss the nervous glance she shot at him when the muggle kissed her on the lips.

"How was your day?" He asked her cheerfully.

"Fine, Tom" Granger replied "And yours?"

"Splendid. Got off work early because we got all out cases closed for the week… Oh but I'm interrupting, are you in the middle of a sale?"

"Erm…." Granger stammered nervously and Draco could tell she was very much aware of the way he was judging her and her muggle partner.

"Tom Franklin" the muggle said to Draco, offering his hand to shake. "Hermione's partner. Didn't mean to interrupt."

Draco eyed the muggle's outstretched hand again.

"Draco Malfoy" He replied, finally reaching out and shaking hands with the man. "And it's no problem, _Hermione_ here was just showing me where to find the cook books."

Draco smirked a little at the way Granger blushed when he said her name. The muggle caught the look.

"You two know each other?" Tom asked.

"We used to go to school together" Granger told him. As the man began to nod, Draco saw a chance to stir up some mischief.

"Come now _Hermione_" Draco said, smirking now "We're a little more than old school friends, wouldn't you say?"

Tom looked between them in confusion while Granger glared at him hatefully. Draco smiled winningly at the muggle.

"Granger and I were something of an item back in the day" he elaborated while he watched Granger begin to turn red with fury at his lie.

"Oh, an old boyfriend, really? What brings you here today?"

"I live in the neighbourhood actually and just heard from a mutual friend that Hermione had opened a store here. She always wanted to so I thought I'd pop down and take a look for myself to congratulate her and bring in a little business. I never could cook to save my life." Draco explained, lying quickly and enjoying the way Granger was turning red with fury at his lies.

"Well that's nice. It was good to meet you." Tom said to him before turning to Hermione "How do you feel about ordering in tonight? I'm craving some Chinese food and some TV time with you."

Draco watched her smile at the muggle and could tell she genuinely liked the idea, though he had no idea what 'TV time' meant and wondered if it was some muggle innuendo for sex that he'd never heard of.

"That sounds nice."

"What time are you closing up down here tonight? Any chance you can close up early and have an early start to the weekend with me?" he asked hopefully. Draco pretended to scan the shelves when Granger glanced at him, picking up a book that was titled _"4 Ingredients_."

Eyeing it curiously in spite of himself, Draco flicked through it and marvelled at the idea of being able to make filling, exciting and varied meals with only four ingredients. He'd never really tried cooking because, as Granger rightly pointed out, he had a House Elf to cook for him, but as Draco stared at the book he remembered that he'd been skilled in potions and how different could cooking really be?"

"I might be able to" Draco heard Granger reply to her muggle "Though I had some new shipments come in today. I need to get them catalogued and on the shelves after I close for the night. I'd already started on it with Emily watching the till for me when Draco arrived."

"If you want to knock-off early I promise to help you catalogue and re-stock in the morning or after you close tomorrow" the muggle grinned at her winningly.

"I should be able to get it all done today by six" Granger offered.

"Six it is then, but a minute longer and I'm coming looking for you" the muggle smiled happily before pecking her on the lips again "I'll see you upstairs ok. Draco, it was nice meeting you."

Draco nodded at the departing muggle and waited until he disappeared through an inconspicuous door down the hall from where they stood. Granger turned to glare at him the minute that door clicked closed.

"What the bloody hell was that?" she exploded at him.

"What was what?" Draco asked innocently "I was perfectly polite."

"You lied to him! And what is wrong with you, telling him we dated? Have your brains been addled? Never in a million years would you and I ever date!"

"I wanted to see if he was the jealous type" Draco shrugged at her, feigning innocence.

"What are you really doing here? What was all that bollocks about me always wanting to own a bookshop and coming to congratulate me? I've owned this place for almost eighteen months."

"Ah but just because you have doesn't mean an old boyfriend would know it, after all, in the muggle world you're not a war hero whose life is published in the papers every few months" Draco pointed out.

Granger glared at him.

"Does he know?" Draco asked mildly, probing their relationship.

"Does he know what?" She demanded.

"Tom, does he know that you're a witch? Does he know that if he pisses you off you could turn him into a toad? Does he know about the magical world and that if not for you the whole world would be enslaved to darkness?"

She blushed pink at the reference to the war.

"No. I haven't told him." She replied shortly.

"Why not? Is he not marriage material? Are you simply biding your time with him until something better comes along?"

"That's none of your business Malfoy."

"When has something not being my business ever stopped me from teasing you about it?" Draco asked her, smirking now. She glared at him, refusing to comment.

"You should tell him. He seemed nice enough. What's stopping you? Worried he'll think you're a freak? Or is it the commitment you're afraid of? Living your life a lie is no way to live Granger. If you think he's the one for you, you should tell him the truth. If not, ditch him and find someone who is."

She glared at him some more. Draco rolled his eyes, strolling past her and over to the counter where Emily was pretending that she hadn't ben tyring to eavesdrop on them.

"Why did you come?" Granger asked him coldly while Emily put his cookbook in a bag and took his money.

"I told you Granger" Draco replied, turning to smirk at her some more "I live in the neighbourhood and thought it might be interesting to stop by, and I needed a cook book" he said, indicatively lifting the book he'd purchased.

"Well… Tootle-pip" he said when she just glared some more. Draco wiggled his fingers, winking at Emily as he headed for the exit, donned his overcoat once more and exited the bookshop.

* * *

**A/N: To those who don't know I write under the penname "Wolfgirl17" on HPFF. So no one panic on either site, I'm not stealing/copying anyone's work. Just operating under two pennames as Kittenshift17 was my name on the other site before I got banned over there on that one for stories too M for the site. So i had to create a new account there. That's all. I have the first few chapters of this written but I'm going to stagger the upload dates in the hopes of getting more pre-written before I give it to y'all. don't want to overdose you on Dramione now do we?**

**Please feed the hungry writer a Review.**

**xx-Kitten =)**


	2. There's No Such Thing as Magic!

**The Happily Ever After Bookshop**

**Chapter 2: There's No Such Thing As Magic!**

Hermione couldn't sleep. She couldn't stop thinking about Draco flipping Malfoy. Or more precisely, about what he had said. Rolling over in bed she stared at the sleeping form of Tom Franklin through the darkened bedroom. He was snoring softly, completely oblivious to the worries plaguing Hermione's mind.

They had been together for a little over two years now, and he'd moved in with her six months ago. Hermione smiled softly at the sleeping man. There was no doubt in her mind that she loved him. He was kind and caring, warm and loving. He made her laugh. When she was with him, Hermione felt happy.

There was one niggling little issue between them though and Draco Malfoy had hit it right on the head when he'd come strolling back into her life to stir up trouble. Tom didn't know Hermione was a witch. It had been strange at first, Hermione found, strange to have to adjust to not carrying her wand when he was around; to having to do things the slower and more tedious muggle way to keep him from realising she could do magic.

When he had moved in it had become even harder to keep her secret. She'd had to lock all her magic books away in a bag in her closet, had to arrange with the _Daily Prophet_ people to have the paper delivered differently so as to not have owls showing up all the time. She'd even had to learn how to use a mobile phone and to teach Ginny, Harry and Ron how to as well so that they wouldn't send her owls or try to Floo-call her randomly while Tom was around.

It was painstaking sometimes. She'd learned to leave the cleaning until Tom was at work simply because she hated feeling like things weren't clean enough if she scrubbed them or wiped them when she could use magic to clean them perfectly. There had been other adjustments she'd had to make too, like not talking much about her life before meeting him. She knew it bothered her friends that she went to such lengths to keep him from the truth.

And thanks to Draco Malfoy, Hermione found herself wondering if it had all been worth it. The git might not have said it, but it was certainly implied that if Hermione meant to spend the rest of her life with Tom, she would either have to practically give up magic – which would be futile if they ever had children that would be born magical and one day go off to Hogwarts – or she would have to tell him the truth about herself. Hermione stared at Tom in the dark.

He was a lawyer. A powerful business man within the muggle world and fast approaching the time when he would likely quit his position with his current firm to branch out and start a firm of his own. He believed his girlfriend was a sweet, charming little woman who was a little quirky and had quit a job with the government in order to follow her passion – books.

He had no idea that within the magical world Hermione was a famous witch who had helped to save the world from Darkness. He had no idea that whenever she felt like it Hermione could take the form of an animal (she had mastered Animagi just last year), that she could brew a potion that would make him sleep for the rest of his days, or that she could hop a broomstick and fly if she felt like it. Instead he only knew that she liked books, had some odd friends, and a fluffy orange cat that seemed a little too intelligent to be entirely natural by muggle standards.

In spite of that, Hermione did love him.

She just couldn't stop thinking about what Malfoy had said. Should she tell him? Should she risk it? There was every chance that if she told him, he would be shocked but eventually accept it and they could live happily ever after being completely honest with each other. But there was also that other chance that he might not be able to handle that kind of information. That he might lose his head and curse at her for lying to him and even think her insane.

In the past Hermione had always been ok with her decision to keep the truth from him, but thanks to Malfoy she was second-guessing herself. He'd implied that if Tom loved her, he would continue to do so, witch or not. Hermione scowled. How dare Malfoy imply that she hadn't told Tom because she was biding her time and waiting for something better to come along? How dare he ask whether or not Tom was marriage material?

Losing patience with the sleeping man beside her even though none of this was his fault, Hermione climbed out of bed, digging her wand out of her top drawer of her bedside table and stomping into the kitchen. Waving her wand, Hermione boiled the kettle in a heartbeat and poured herself a strong cup of tea after first digging into the store box she kept in the cupboard filled with different herbs and ingredients that went well in most teas and many common potions.

In her frustration Hermione chose to levitate the kettle over her mug to pour the tea rather than doing it manually.

She went and dropped into her favourite armchair in front of the fireplace, glaring broodily into the flames as she sipped her chamomile, lavender and valerian root tea.

"Hermione? Darling?" Tom's voice asked her softly sometime later and Hermione jumped, almost sloshing tea down her front in her haste to shove her wand down between the cushions of her chair.

"Tom? Is everything ok? Why aren't you asleep?" Hermione asked, frowning at him and trying to get the accusatory tone out of her voice. After all, it wasn't his fault he was a muggle that she hadn't trusted with her secrets.

"I woke up and you were gone" Tom said softly, smiling at her sleepily "What's the matter darling? You've been agitated since that Draco fellow came into the bookshop to see you a few days ago."

Hermione stared at him for a little while, unsure how to begin.

"Hermione, sweetheart? You can always tell me anything…. I didn't know you'd had a relationship with him, you only told me about being with Ron. What is it honey? Did this Draco fellow say something to you that upset you?"

"He did" Hermione said finally when Tom had moved over and was squatting at her feet, frowning his concern at her worriedly.

"What did he say?"

"He… He pointed out a few things to me. Important things about myself that he knew I was keeping from you" Hermione said, not bothering to even begin to explain that she and Malfoy had most certainly never been more than schoolyard rivals.

"You've been keeping things from me?" he prodded, looking a little concerned now.

"Yes" Hermione admitted "At first it was because I wasn't allowed to tell you, and after that, well I just never got around to it I suppose. It's important."

"Well what is it honey? You know you can always tell me anything" Tom said, frowning worriedly and simultaneously smiling reassuringly at her.

Hermione sighed.

"Do you love me Tom?" Hermione asked.

"Of course I do. You know that."

"Would you still if you learned a secret about me that would completely change your opinion of me and your whole outlook on the world?" Hermione pushed.

"I think so…." Tom said, worried now.

Hermione sighed heavily "This thing between us, where do you see it going? Do you see us lasting?"

Tom frowned now.

"Wait here a minute" he said, getting to his feet and walking back into the bedroom. Hermione frowned. When he came back, Tom turned the lights on in the room and Hermione blinked at the harsh brightness after the prolonged staring in the dark.

"I didn't want to do this yet… I was going to wait a little while, plan it out nicely. In answer to your question, yes darling I see us lasting, that's why I bought this" he said, holding up a velvety green ring box. Nestled inside was a white gold promise band studded with three small diamonds. "I've been planning the perfect way to ask… but Hermione, honey, will you marry me?"

Hermione blinked in shock.

"There are some things you should know about me first Tom" Hermione told him. When he looked hurt Hermione cupped his face in her hand "I would love to marry you, sweetheart. More than anything yes I would love to. But I think I should probably tell you this secret about myself first and then you can reconsider whether or not you really want to marry me."

Tom looked relieved and nervous at the same time.

"Tom, I'm a witch" Hermione blurted, watching him closely. He flinched.

"Honey, don't say that about yourself. You know I hate it when you put yourself down like that. You're not a witch, you're wonderful."

Hermione smiled gently, feeling her heart squeeze at his tender expression.

"That's not what I meant… I mean, that I'm a witch in the sense that I can do magic" Hermione explained.

"What are you talking about honey?" Tom frowned now, "Have you been reading all those fantasy novels you get into the shop again? Magic isn't real sweetie."

"But it is" Hermione insisted, pulling out her wand. "See this? This is my magic wand. I got it when I was eleven years old before I went to Hogwarts, the magical school of witchcraft and wizardy. That's where I met all my friends, the ones you think are odd."

Tom was staring at her doubtfully.

"You don't believe me? Watch, I'll show you" Hermione said, before waving her wand at a stack of books on the coffee table, levitating them closer until they rested on her lap. "See?"

Tom was staring at her, concern evident on his face.

"How did you do that?" he asked in a low voice.

"I told you, I'm a witch. I can use magic"

"Hermione magic doesn't exist" Tom said sternly.

"But it does. I just showed you that it does" Hermione pointed out "See, watch" Hermione said, waving her wand at a vase of wilted flowers on the table and watching them revitalise as she brought them bursting back to life.

Tom began to look rather faint, glancing between Hermione and the flowers. To really drive the fact home, Hermione flicked her wand at the cupboard that held their DVD collection, setting it on fire without doing any actual damage to it.

Tom yelled in surprised, leaping to his feet and running for the fire extinguisher.

"Tom" Hermione called softly as he ran back in just as she ceased the flames. Tom turned to her, his eyes wide with fear now. "It's not damaged. It's fine. I was using magic to make it look like it was on fire even though it actually wasn't."

"But magic isn't real" he protested, his voice tight now.

Sighing, Hermione transformed herself into her Animagus form of a tigress and padded across the room towards her boyfriend.

Tom screamed and ran from her.

Feeling her heart drop all the way down into her shoes when Tom proceeded to barricade himself inside the bathroom, locking the door tight, Hermione realised it was hopeless. He was still screaming when Hermione tried to knock on the door and reassure him that it was ok; that she'd been to school and learned to control her magic; that there were laws in place to keep magic folk from hurting muggles; that if he could just accept what she was they would be able to be together forever. She even tried rationalising her decision to finally tell him because if they were to get married like he'd just asked her to, the children they would have together would be magical too and would one day go to the same school for witchcraft and wizardy she had attended.

It was no use. Tom screamed hysterically inside the bathroom, accusing her of lying and of being a freak. He moaned and whimpered to himself about how magic wasn't real. When Hermione used her wand to unlock the door she found him curled into the foetal position around the loo, the evidence of how hysterical he was still unflushed inside. Her heart ached as Hermione cast silencing spells to keep him from disturbing their neighbours since he'd begun to scream again when he sensed her presence inside the bathroom.

Her feet dragged and tears trickled down Hermione's cheeks as she shuffled over to the fireplace, grabbing a handful of Floo powder (which she'd taken to hiding in a small jar behind a large picture of her and her family). Quickly contacting the Ministry, Hermione requested the presence of the Obliviators and the Muggle Extraction team.

Once that was done, Hermione collapsed back into her armchair to wait. They didn't take long, though some of them looked as though they'd been roused from sleep.

"Miss Granger, I'm Rodney Charlseton, one of the Obliviators. What is it you need?" Hermione looked up at him through eyes that stung from the tears she'd been crying.

"I told him the truth" Hermione whispered brokenly. "I told him and at first he was nervous and didn't want to believe it. I levitated the books and I made the flowers bloom. I set the cupboards on fire and he panicked. When I tried to explain it all to him he still didn't believe and looked terrified. I just wanted him to believe…. So I transformed."

"I understand Miss Granger" the Obliviators gave her a sympathetic smile "Don't worry, you're not the first to reveal our world to your spouse and have them panic and lose control. We'll get this all taken care of."

They left her to cry on the couch while they went in and dealt with Tom, wiping his memory of the conversation and instead replacing the night with some story about Hermione confessing to him that she was unhappy being with him and had broken up with him. While the Obliviators dealt with Tom's mind, the Muggle Extraction team arrived and Hermione was overcome with a freshet of tears as they began to magically box up all of Tom's things.

"Miss Granger" a voice called for her attention and Hermione looked into the kind face of a plump witch she didn't know by name but knew was part of the Extraction team. Hermione hiccupped at her, trying to get her emotions under control.

"We have modified Tom's memory and relocated his things to his old apartment. He believes the two of you grew apart and that you turned him down after he proposed to you. He'll be kept under surveillance for a few days by the Ministry to make sure he settles in and doesn't get addled or confused. You understand that you cannot have any further contact with him? Seeing you might make the spells go wonky and make him remember you telling him about the magical world….. I would recommend you spend a day or two with the Potter's, or perhaps the Weasley's, with friends and loved ones. I understand that you're hurting right now. But you did the right thing in contacting us to take care of this. I have no doubt you could've performed the magic to make him forget, but with your emotions like this you might've done more harm than good…. I'm sorry for your loss Miss Granger. If it helps at all, this is not an uncommon occurrence. Most muggles simply cannot accept that magic is real and those that can often wish to be magical themselves and grow angry when they cannot."

She paused for a moment, smiling sympathetically at Hermione.

"I've dispatched an owl to Ginny Potter, informing her of the situation. I'm sure she'll be over shortly to check on you. Would you like me to wait with you until she arrives?"

Hermione shook her head even though her bottom lip quivered.

"Thank you for coming so quickly…. I didn't know what else to do" Hermione whispered, her voice cracking several times. The witch nodded at her kindly.

"We'll all go and get out of your hair now, Hermione. I'm sorry again, that things have turned out this way for you. Mrs Potter will be here shortly."

As the rest of the Obliviators and Muggle Extraction team left, Hermione felt her brave front begin to crumble and with the last whoosh of her fireplace, Hermione crumpled to the floor. She didn't dare look around her flat for fear of the pain she would feel when she noticed Tom's things missing from her life.

As she laid there, sobbing into a cushion in front of her fireplace, all Hermione could think about was her pain and one sentence over and over again; _Merlin curse Draco Malfoy!_


	3. Maybe Not So Happily Ever After

**The Happily Ever After Bookshop**

**Chapter 3: Maybe Not so Happily Ever After**

**Not So Happily Ever After**

_Late last night the Obliviators and Muggle Extraction Team were called to the residence of the Golden Trio's Golden Girl. Miss Hermione Granger herself contacted the Ministry by Floo to request that the Ministry teams (mentioned above) report to her place of residence. Ministry insiders report that Miss Granger, who has been seeing muggle Thomas Franklin for the past two years, called for assistance after Mr Franklin asked Hermione to marry him. According to our sources Miss Granger insisted that she must admit the truth about being a witch to the muggle before she could answer his romantic question._

_It has been confirmed that Mr Franklin became nervous and frightful when Miss Granger demonstrated some of her vast magical abilities to him, including Levitation, Faux-Fire, and Animagi. Reports suggest that Mr Franklin became hysterical when Miss Granger demonstrated her ability to transfigure herself into a 300 pound tigress right there in her living room. Miss Granger is understandably devastated by the turn of events and has been unreachable to comment at present on her feelings over the situation._

_The proud owner of the Bookshop "__**Happily Ever After**__" books, which caters to both muggles and magic folk, opened the store eighteen months ago, six months into her relationship with Mr Franklin and as mentioned in previous reports has commented on how happy she is pursuing her passion and running her store. The name of the store, perhaps reflecting the 'Happy Ever After' ending Miss Granger envisioned for herself and Mr Franklin, is somewhat dubious now, given last night's events._

_Fans and loved ones of Miss Granger will be pleased to know that Mr Franklin's memory has been modified and he has been extracted from her life successfully._

_On an exciting note for the handsome bachelors of the wizarding world, Miss Granger in once again on the market. No one can forget the heroic part Miss Granger played in the second Wizarding War, nor the beauty and clever mind of this bright young witch. While she may need a little time to get over her heartbreak, we are sure that Miss Granger will seek her next romantic interest from amongst the ranks of the world's many handsome wizards._

_We will be sure to keep you posted on Miss Granger's plight and her quest back into the world of dating. Let's hope that this time Hermione can kind and keep her 'Happily Ever After'._

Draco Malfoy lowered his copy of the morning's Daily Prophet back down onto the table and smirked just a little bit. He couldn't believe it. The little bookworm had actually listened to him and told her muggle she was a witch. It hadn't turned out well for her, but Draco had never thought the result would be anything different. Muggles and magic folk weren't supposed mix. Sure they might be useful in widening the gene pool within the magical world, but very few muggles could handle being romantically involved with a witch or wizard.

He didn't know why, but something about seeing Granger with that muggle the other day had bothered him. It wasn't her happiness, which had been evident. But there was just something about the scene of seeing a witch like Granger snogging a muggle. In the past Draco might've sneered that the muggle-born deserved to be stuck with an uninteresting muggle but Draco had learned the error of his ways. It wasn't because Thomas Franklin had been a muggle that had bothered him either. Draco suspected it was the idea that a witch as undisputedly brilliant as Granger would reduce herself to being with a muggle rather than trying to better the wizarding race through her choice of life partner. After all, the man she married would no doubt father her children and didn't a fantastic talent like hers deserve to be passed on to her children through a magical link rather than a muggle one?

Rolling his eyes at himself and his silly musings, Draco got to his feet and went to the fridge. Bartley came rushing into the room, his feet flapping against the tiled floor.

"Is the master hungry? Bartley could make you something to eat sir" the Elf asked earnestly.

He had been most distressed when Draco had come home with a cook book. Curiosity and Granger's taunt about not being able to cook had gotten the better of Draco and he'd been fiddling about in the kitchen making things, surprising himself with how much he enjoyed cooking. Bartley had been distraught when Draco had told the elf he wanted to cook his own meal. The poor creature had thrown himself on the floor sobbing and apologising for not being a good enough cook to satisfy his master.

"I'm not really hungry Bartley" Draco assured the elf, "Just bored."

"Bartley could still cook you something sir" the elf said hopefully.

He'd been begging Draco to let him cook the food for three days now. Draco would openly admit that he loved the decadent and exquisite food the elf prepared for him; there was just something so satisfying about cooking a meal he'd made himself from scratch. Yesterday he'd cooked himself a Shepherd's Pie. It had tasted terrible. He'd forgotten about the mince when he'd become preoccupied trying to master the fan-dangle thing called a 'potato masher' and it had burnt to the bottom of the pan. Bartley had been beside himself to see Draco scraping the blackened mince into his pie dish and had actually sobbed when Draco had choked down a bite or two before giving in and letting the elf cook him a pasta dish.

"I'm fine Bartley" Draco assured the elf. "I'm going to go for a walk I think."

Draco didn't tell the elf he was actually planning to sneak into the book shop to buy another cook book. He'd been having such fun playing with the recipes in the book he'd bought that he wanted to try something a little more challenging. Something with more than four basic ingredients since he'd noticed most of the things in his cook book were rather bland meals once he'd made them, in keeping with the theme of the book. Glancing back at the paper on the table Draco wondered if Granger would be working or if she would be curled up wallowing in her misery over the muggle leaving her.

He had to admit it would've taken a lot of bravery for her to put herself out there like that and he could just imagine the types of things a hysterical muggle might call a witch upon being confronted with proof of magic existing and reacting poorly.

Hoping her bookshop would be open even if she wasn't there, Draco strolled off to his wardrobe to dress appropriately since he'd been lazily lounging about in his pyjamas most of the morning. It was chilly outside given that it was the middle of winter so Draco made sure to dress appropriately before leaving his flat and walking the chilly three blocks from his flat to her bookshop. He stopped in at the café to order a hot chocolate for himself and a couple of chocolate biscuits before heading into the bookshop, unable to forget the title of the morning's paper.

Draco scowled as he entered the shop. It seemed that many people had read about Granger's break up, the morbidly curious were all there, milling about the store, hassling Emily who appeared to be trying to run things by herself since Granger wasn't in sight. Draco's expression darkened when he saw several reporters from the _Daily Prophet_ as well as gossip columnists from _Witch Weekly_ and the other magazines and tabloids that had sprung up after the war. He hated reporters.

After the war many a columnist had written pieces on Draco and the Malfoy family, most of them less than flattering. He'd developed quite a reputation among them when he'd lost his temper with the press constantly hounding him at his work, at his home, at Diagon Alley. Everywhere he'd gone they had hounded him, asking him probing questions about his part in the war, what the Dark Lord had really been like, the war from the perspective of a Death Eater. When one of them had asked to see his Dark mark Draco had lost his temper and set the lot of them on fire. He'd gotten in some trouble with the Ministry, but after that the Wizenagamot had seen fit to issue a court order that stated no reporter could hound Draco or the other Malfoy's without express permission from the Malfoy family and none come be within fifty feet of him or his parents.

"All right you lot" Draco snarled at them as soon as he'd hung up his coat "Clear out right now!"

Several of the reporters gasped and a few of the younger, newer gossipists raised their cameras. Snapping pictures of his furious stance and expression. The older columnists stopped them quickly.

"What are you doing here Malfoy? We have every right to be here. You can't just send us away" A pretty witch who on more than one occasion had written exposes on the Malfoy family demanded.

"No you don't. This is a place of business and you are interfering with it" Draco growled at them "And you know the law. None of you are allowed within fifty feet of me, now clear out! You're like a pack of vultures swooping around feeding on other people's pain. Get out of here!"

"Mr Malfoy, are you suggesting you know something about Miss Granger's pain? Do you know anything about what happened last night between her and her muggle partner? Were you somehow involved?" A young wizard with a camera asked and Draco scowled, recognising him as the younger Creevey brother. He remembered that Colin Creevey –the kid always wearing a bloody camera- had been numbered among the dead during the Final Battle of Hogwarts, and it seemed in honour of his brother's memory, Dennis had taken up the camera and now worked as a columnist.

"You're not allowed to ask him anything laddy" a crotchety old witch told the young man "Or to take pictures of him. Court orders against it. Don't none of you ask him nothing else. We'll have to clear out. He's right about the fifty feet rule and if we linger too long we'll all be in for it."

Draco nodded as they all started to leave.

"Creevey" he called when he saw the kid's shoulders slump. Draco beckoned him closer when Dennis glanced at him.

"I didn't know about the court order" he protested coming closer.

"I'd have thought you'd have more respect Creevey" Draco scolded him rather than acknowledging his words "Granger was in the Gryffindor, same as you. She was even friends with your brother, yet here you are making a living off her pain."

The kid looked horrified when Draco's words sank in and Draco could tell he was contrite.

"As for your questions… No, I don't know anything about Granger and her muggle, or about what kind of pain she's in though I can imagine she's probably heartbroken."

"If I ask you questions will I get in trouble still?" the kid asked, looking confused to have been answered.

"No. You lot are allowed to publish things if I initiate the conversation" Draco told him.

"Do you know anything about the situation? What are you doing in her shop?"

Rolling his eyes in irritation Draco replied "I'm here because I live nearby and needed a book. I don't know anything about the situation other than that I met Thomas Franklin when I was in here buying a book a few days ago."

"Can you tell me anything about him?"

"Are you lot trained to be uncaring?" Draco demanded irritably. Creevey blushed.

"Sorry…. It's not that we're unfeeling. It's just that whoever gets the best scoop gets the best pay and most of us are pretty broke since, as you say, we 'feed on other people's pain'."

Draco scowled for a moment longer.

"I'll tell you what Creevey… You want to get a scoop on this story, you need to work a better angle than trying to hassle the poor witch in her shop. I'd recommend doing a piece on the heartbreak Granger is probably feeling at having lost her boyfriend of two years. You're muggleborn, like her, you have a good understanding of the differences magic folk face in regard to muggles. Maybe you even know about the reactions of muggles to discovering magic is real. In this instance it seems that Tom reacted badly and I imagine Granger's probably particularly hurt and upset over the whole situation. He probably said some terrible things to her in his hysteria."

Creevey was nodding, looking as though he was already seeing things differently.

"I hadn't really thought of that" he admitted "We were all so caught up in what had happened and finding out the gory details that I forgot it was Hermione and that she's probably really upset over this."

Draco nodded too, surprised at himself for having intervened in this whole mess in the first place.

"Do you have anything I could put in an article about this Franklin character? You said you met him."

"Anything I give you better only go in an article by you Creevey. If any other writer gets hold of it I'm going to set you and them on fire with Fiend Fyre." Draco threatened seriously, unsure why he was commenting at all, though the kid nodded earnestly. "I met him when I was here buying a book the other day. I don't know many muggles but he seemed like a decent bloke. He came over while Granger was selling me a book. He introduced himself and even though I told him some silly fibs to antagonise an old rival, he was polite and friendly."

"What about how he interacted with Hermione? Was he caring? Kind? Rude?"

Draco smiled a little as he remembered "I could tell the minute he looked at her that he was in love with her. Kissed her nice, asked if she'd be interested in ordering Chinese food for dinner and putting in some 'TV time'… I don't know what that is, but she seemed pleased by the idea. He was off work early and he begged her to close up shop early so they could spend some quality time together."

Creevey was nodding, jotting down notes.

"Anything else you remember about him?"

"Erm… He offered to help her with any jobs she might be putting on hold to spend the evening with him. Told her he'd come looking for her if she wasn't finished by six, told me it was nice to meet me and left."

"These 'silly fibs' you mentioned, what were they?"

Draco grinned "Oh, I wanted to find out if he was a decent bloke or one of those jealous fellows. Since he didn't know me I lied when Granger introduced me as being someone who'd gone to school with her." Draco chuckled "I told him me and Granger had had a thing back in the day; that I'd heard she'd opened the bookshop and was here to congratulate her on it and bring in some business."

"You and Hermione were an item?" Creevey asked, looking intrigued.

"Merlin, NO! I was just tormenting her because she was being bossy when I nagged her about a book I was looking for. That muggle didn't bat an eye, just told me it was nice of me to come in and went back to focusing on Granger."

"You know a few of them are going to write speculative things about you being here and driving all of us off right?" Creevey asked him, nodding towards the crowd of reporters that had exited the shop.

"They're not allowed to publish anything about me without interviewing me with my permission."

"Yeah, but they can speculate and there aren't any laws that keep them from publishing the truth, by tomorrow morning most of the wizarding world is likely to know you were in her shop and that you drove them all off by being here and being aggressive."

Draco shrugged "They don't have much to work with since I'm in a bookshop to buy a book."

"Yeah but you're in the one Hermione owns" Creevey pointed out "The day after she breaks up with her muggle boyfriend. They'll speculate."

"And the story you publish will set them straight."

"You're really only here to buy a book?" Creevey asked doubtfully "You seem to know a lot about the muggle boyfriend and you've given us more about the way they interacted with each other than anyone else has."

"Are you trying to suggest I secretly have a thing going with Granger?" Draco asked dangerously.

"No" Creevey held up his hands as though to fend off an attack "I'm just warning you that people are going to speculate about it…."

Draco watched him fold his note pad up and tuck his quill behind his ear. As Creevey moved off towards the door Draco began to walk away but Creevey's voice called back to him.

"Malfoy? Thanks for the story idea, and for talking to me…. I'm a little shocked, since you don't exactly have the best reputation…. Do you mind if I use your name in my article? I won't write anything false or bad."

Draco shrugged "Whatever… But if I don't like what I read I'm setting you on fire."

Draco stared after him this time as Creevey left, surprised the kid had felt the need to thank him for talking to him. Most didn't bother but that was because most were afraid of him and didn't talk to him any more than necessary.

"Oh my gosh, Thank you so much!" a voice said from behind him and Draco spun quickly to find himself staring at the flyaway blonde hair of Granger's shop assistant , Emily. "They were asking so many questions and shouting at me for my attention, wanting me to tell them things about Hermione and Tom. Who were those people? Hermione ran for it when they came in before she could explain. She just asked me not to tell them anything about her."

"They were reporters. Granger's pretty famous to some people … from her past work for the Government…. I guess it must be a slow day and they somehow got wind of her breaking up with Tom."

"How did you know about it?"

"I read it in the paper this morning. Some fool blabbed about Granger and Franklin having some issues last night and it got leaked."

Emily nodded and Draco wondered how much the girl really knew. She was just a muggle teenager after all, but working in a place like this that catered to magical folk probably bought her into regular contact with wizards and witches. He wondered idly how she dealt with it when they wanted to pay in Galleons, Sickles and Knuts instead of pounds and pence like muggles.

"Well anyway, thanks for getting rid of them…. What book were you looking for?"

"Cook books" Draco replied "I bought one the other day but now I need a new one."

"I don't understand, did you destroy the one you bought?" Emily asked him, looking concerned about selling him anything if he was just going to destroy it.

"No. It was a simple cook book and the recipes are a little bland. I thought I'd try something more exciting," Draco explained.

Emily nodded. "Ok, well if you remember where they are and are likely to take a few minutes, I'm going to duck out the back and let Hermione know they've all gone."

"Merlin… Don't tell her I'm here. She'll probably try to curse me or something" Draco said quickly, suddenly realising that she was probably going to find some way to blame him since he'd planted the seed in her mind that she should tell the muggle. She'd foolishly and bravely taken his advice and now she was heartbroken and being hounded by the press.

He heard Emily giggle as she walked away and Draco got the feeling from the glance she threw him that the teenager was thinking bad thoughts that he suspected may relate to match-making.

Draco all but forgot about Granger and the muggle girl and the reporters and everything else when he pulled a few cook books off the shelves, spreading them out on the floor and flicking through them. He made sure to grab one that explained some of the cooking terminology he hadn't understood. What in Merlin's nose was '_basting'_ and '_blanching_' and '_meuniere_'?

"I'm so sorry for just running off on you Emily" a voice apologised "I just didn't want to deal with them today. I don't ever want to deal with them, to be honest, but especially not today. Not after last night..."

"Are you going to be ok Hermione?" Draco heard Emily ask of Granger.

"Eventually" Hermione sighed. "I knew they'd all be in here hounding me today but I just couldn't bear to stay in my flat. Not with all of Tom's things missing. It looks so empty and desolate."

Draco assumed the girl must have nodded along sympathetically because for a little while he didn't hear anything else.

"Maybe you should take the day off Boss; go to the park or see Ginny or someone. You look pretty frazzled… and you've been filing those pregnancy books in the gardening section for a few minutes now..." Emily suggested tentatively, clearly concerned for Granger and Draco tried not to snigger to himself at the idea of books on pregnancy in a garden section.

"Oh no" Granger moaned in despair "Blimey, I'm such an idiot!"

"It's ok Hermione, just go. I'll fix it" Emily protested.

"No no, I have to pull it together. I'll just file these away in the Family Planning section and then I think I will take the day off... Will you be ok here? You can go home too if you want and we can just lock up. I don't feel like dealing with people and it's Saturday, I'll bet you have better things to do with your day than spend time with me. Didn't you tell me you have a date tomorrow night? You could go shopping for a cute new outfit to wear."

Draco tuned them out when they started blabbering out boring things like teenage dates. He had more important things to do, like learning what it meant to '_sauté'_ something and what '_braising_' was.

The sharp intake of breath altered him to an issue and Draco leapt to his feet in time to see a furious looking Hermione Granger storming towards him clutching several books in her hands.

"YOU!" She screeched accusingly and Draco could just tell she wanted to hurt him. With her arms full of books he was safe from her wand and any magical attack she might launch, but not so much on anything else.

"Now, Granger" Draco began backing away quickly as she advanced on him.

"What are you doing here?" She snarled "You think you have the right to just stroll in here whenever you please and tell people to do things, twisting your words to make it sound like your 'advice' is reasonable?"

"Granger it's not my fault you took my advice" Draco protested, concerned when his back collided with one of the bookshelves.

"This is all your fault" She snapped, clearly not paying any attention to what he'd just told her "You and your stupid mind games! How dare you imply that Tom was just a place holder until something better came along? Who are you to just come walking in here and telling me I should tell him the truth, implying that I was wasting my time being with him or bound for a life of lies and unhappiness if I didn't tell him!"

"And it's my fault the bloody muggle couldn't handle it?" Draco defended "You're the one who should've known better than to get involved with a muggle in the first place"

Her hair practically crackled with electricity and ferocity as she stomped closer and Draco realised that since leaving Hogwarts he'd forgotten just how scary Hermione Granger could be when she was furious and on a rampage.

She made a sound like some kind of strangled banshee as she stomped right up into his personal space and Draco grunted in pain and surprise when she hit him upside the head with a heavy pregnancy book.

"Oi! You can't just go about hitting people!" Draco growled at her "I'm a bloody customer in your place of business and this is how you treat me?"

"You're a twisted, nasty boy who thinks it's perfectly fine to just run around dispensing bad advice!" Granger corrected him "You've always been vicious!"

She had begun to beat him with the books she was clutching and though Draco was successfully confiscating most of them from her before they could collide with his head, she definitely packed a punch each time she walloped him. Stacking the books high on a shelf out of her reach, Draco smirked when she ran out of books to hit him with since she apparently was more focused on the idea of hitting him than on her ammo. It didn't stop her attack however and Draco grunted again, though this time in amusement, when she beat her dainty little fists against his chest in an outrage.

Over her head he could see Emily looking shocked and amused.

"I hate you!" Hermione raged at him "I hate you Draco Malfoy! I hope Merlin curses you! I hope you never find happiness since you walk around, shooting off your mouth and making sure no one else can!"

In spite of his surprise at her actually attacking him by pummelling her fists against his chest (which she seemed to think was a just and painful punishment) Draco couldn't help feeling a little bit bad for her. She'd probably been up most of the night crying and sobbing over the bloke, not to mention having so recently lived through the ordeal of telling a muggle the truth about herself. Draco could just imagine the upstanding, uptight looking muggle had said some incredibly cruel things to the witch currently attacking him.

She was so upset in fact that she probably didn't even realise she'd begun to cry as she beat him with her fists. Tears trickled unchecked from her angry brown eyes, drawing his attention to the dark, bruise-like circles underneath them.

"This is all your fault and I hate you!" She croaked at him and Draco could tell she had a lump in her throat. "I told him and now he's gone and it's all your fault!"

Over and over again she muttered the words, still thumping his chest with her fists. Draco didn't bother trying to fight her off; she wasn't strong enough to do him any real damage or even cause that much pain now that he'd confiscated her books. Bent on her anger, pain and frustration Draco let her vent uninterrupted. He supposed that to an extent it was his fault the muggle had left her, since she probably wouldn't have told him so soon what she was if Draco hadn't tormented her, and her pummelling was just so pathetic that he let her do it. She was weakening quickly as her rage was taken over by her grief and soon she was crying openly, sobbing even while she kept batting at him with her fists.

When her knees buckled and she started to drop towards the hard floor, Draco caught her against him. She'd gone limp as her inner turmoil consumed her and Draco gingerly scooped her up since she refused to hold herself up with her legs either, going completely 'dead fish' as she curled in on herself. So lost in her sadness she'd didn't seem to even notice that he'd lifted her up or that she wasn't fighting him anymore, she buried her face in her hands and sobbed, her breath ragged as though trying to breathe around the lump in her throat was painful.

Draco stared at Emily questioningly, wondering what he should do with the crying witch.

"If you take her upstairs she's just going to cry even more" Emily told him quietly "And if you take her outside those reporters will probably swamp you."

"Isn't there a couch or something that I could put her on?" Draco asked, unsure what to do and how to handle a grieving female.

"You can't just leave her here!" Emily protested "Can't you think of anywhere to take her? Ginny and Harry's maybe? You'd have to apparate of course..."

Draco stared at the muggle, dumbfounded and wondering whether he'd heard her right or if he was perhaps having the most peculiar dream he'd ever had in his life.

"My brother is a wizard" Emily explained seeing his dumbfounded expression "He's only in his second year at Hogwarts this year. When we needed to get his books this year we came in here. Hermione could tell straight away that she was dealing with a muggle family and a muggle-born wizard. She was so helpful and wonderful. I came back a few times after that and one day she offered me the job since I'd be able to help out with shifts, knew about the wizarding world and all the different money and everything, and wasn't always away at Hogwarts... um….I think she's fallen asleep."

Draco stared at the witch in his arms and realised Emily was right. She looked pathetic and vulnerable, curled up as tight as she could in his hold, her head tucked into her chin and leaning against his shoulder.

"Should I take her upstairs?" Draco asked her.

"I don't think so. It'll do no good for her to wake up alone in her apartment, she'll just get upset all over again. She needs to get away for a few days... If you wait here I can go and pack a bag with some of her things, you could take her to Ginny's since she's always home with the baby."

Draco nodded, unsure why he was helping at all but not seeing any way out of the situation now.

"I was hoping to buy these too" He told her, nudging three of the books laid open on the floor. Emily scooped them up and took them to the counter sticking them in a bag. Draco started trying to juggle the girl in his arms to get to his wallet.

"No, don't disturb her... I get the feeling you'll be back for more books. I'll just write a note that you owe nine Galleons and you can fix it up next time. I don't think she's slept all night, she was so distraught. I'll run up and grab some of her things, ok?"

She didn't wait for him to reply before dashing off to the door that led up to Granger's flat. In record time she was back, pushing the handle of a small suitcase into Draco's hand as well as a heavy cat cage with a growling, fluffy orange monster inside.

"If you go around the corner just there, you'll be able to apparate where no one can see you" she indicated with a smile as though it was the most normal thing in the world for her to say.

"See you" Draco said awkwardly to the girl, going where she'd pointed still cradling Granger in his arms and carting her possessions, including her evil cat.

"Bye, and thanks for all this today. You're a life-saver."

Draco began to apparate automatically and was already in motion before he realised he had no idea where the Potter's lived or how to Apparate there. Landing with an ungraceful thud in his own living room Draco looked guiltily at the girl sleeping in his arms.

She was going to be terribly cross when she woke up to find herself in the flat that belonged to her enemy.

* * *

**A/N: Hey cherubs, Thanks so much for all the reviews. I love hearing your opinions and predictions on the way you hope/think the story will go, and I love the challenge of trying to include those ideas so let me know if you have any. **

**Please feed the hungry author a Review.**

**xx-Kitten =)**


	4. Everything is Better with Food

**The Happily Ever After Bookshop**

**Chapter 4: Everything is Better with Food.**

Hermione woke up surrounded by complete darkness but for the flickering flames of the hearth fire which glowed warmly. Frowning in confusion, she wondered where she was. She certainly wasn't at home. Peering around blearily, Hermione could make out the black shade of the carpet in front of the fireplace and several looming shapes around the room. Her own carpet was pale blue, not black. In fact Hermione didn't think she knew anyone with black carpet. Not to mention that the room she was sleeping in was massive, big enough to easily fit her own small flat inside just this room alone.

As her eyes adjusted to the gloom, Hermione realised the looming shapes around her were couches. A flicker of light drew her eyes towards a hallway and Hermione pulled out her wand, lighting the tip as she crept towards it. She noticed as she did so that she wasn't wearing any shoes and stopped to frown at her feet in confusion.

Where in Merlin's beard was she?

Had she been kidnapped by some rich person with a fondness for excessively sized lounge rooms and a dislike of shoes?

Tiptoeing down the hall when she heard the clatter of something further down, Hermione held her breath in fear and anticipation.

"You're awake" a low voice said matter-of-factly from the bowels of the biggest kitchen Hermione had seen outside of Hogwarts. Glancing around anxiously as she tried to locate the owner of the voice, Hermione's gaze skidded to a stop when she spotted a familiar figure looking completely unfamiliar.

Gasping in horror as she realised where she was and trying to hide her curiosity and irritation at the same time, Hermione narrowed her eyes on Draco Malfoy.

He looked like Malfoy, with the blonde hair and the ever-present smirk on his pointed face, but at the same time he looked nothing like the Malfoy Hermione knew. Gone was the stiff looking formal suit and neatly combed hair that oozed with old money and refinement.

In their place was messy hair that hung into his eyes and stuck up at odd angles as though he'd towelled it dry roughly and then left it to do whatever it wanted. In addition to that he wore a faded old Quidditch jersey in the Slytherin colours and fleecy black track pants. Like her, he wore no shoes, though he was sporting thick looking white socks. The most unusual and startling thing about seeing him however, was the fact that he wore a cooking apron. It was a creamy colour with a drawing of a pink scribble looking thing with arms and legs and a big smiling face in black. The inscription above the image read "Mr. Messy."

"Malfoy?" Hermione asked, wondering if she was having some kind of weird dream.

"You slept so long that I thought you wouldn't wake until tomorrow" he told her as though it was completely normal and unsurprising for Hermione to be standing in her stockinged feet in his kitchen doorway while he looked like something that had crawled out of a muggle movie as a version of a 'domestic prince' or alternatively a hung-over frat boy.

"Why am I in your house?" She asked, convinced now that she must be dreaming since she'd just spotted the spatula he was holding in his hand.

"You exhausted yourself trying to beat me to death" He told her smirking "Then you cried for a while and tried to crumple into a pathetic heap on the floor just after beating me. I had to catch you since you probably would've slammed your head into a book case. Then Emily started blabbering about her brother and knowing about the magical world and how you'd cry more if you woke up in your own apartment and how I should apparate you to Potter's place. I told her I should just leave your arse there in the shop. I started to, but she snapped at me. Then I realised I don't know where Potter lives, so I landed here instead and didn't know what to do with you since you'd fallen asleep and nothing seemed to wake you."

"And the logical thing to do was steal my shoes and leave me in the dark?" Hermione asked him, completely bewildered by this dream version of Malfoy who seemed perfectly comfortable standing around in his socks, apron and track pants in front of her.

"Sleeping in shoes is uncomfortable" Malfoy shrugged at her, "And it wasn't dark when I put you in there, but since it's almost two o'clock in the morning, it got dark."

"But why am I here? And how do I wake up? This is the strangest dream I've ever had."

Malfoy snorted at her when Hermione wandered right into the kitchen and clambered up to perch on his marble-top bench just the way she would if she was at home or dreaming.

"You're not dreaming Granger. You're awake, after having slept for fifteen straight hours, after screeching at me and hitting me with things and complaining about how it's all my fault that your boyfriend was an unaccepting tosspot."

Hermione felt a sinking feeling in her stomach as he mentioned Tom and she pinched herself quickly, wanting to wake up and get away from him before he could start tormenting her about being ditched by a muggle. He smirked some more as he watched her do it and Hermione scowled at him.

"You can pinch yourself all you want Granger, but you're already awake."

Realising he must be right when she pinched herself for the third consecutive time and nothing happened, Hermione gawked at him.

"You can't just kidnap me!" She told him sternly.

"What? I didn't kidnap you. What is wrong with you?" Malfoy said, looking affronted now. It was a little comical given the way he was dressed.

"Did someone else kidnap both of us?" She asked in a stage whisper "Is that why you're dressed funny and why we aren't allowed shoes?"

Draco eyed her as though she'd gone mad.

"Are you drunk?" he asked her seriously.

"What? No! Why would you say that? It's a valid question... I've never seen you look so ridiculous... well except for that time that you were a ferret... And the times you used to plaster your hair back with so much gel you looked like you were made of grease..."

Hermione became aware of the fact that she was rambling when she noticed him staring at her looking irritated and concerned at the same time.

"Why am I here?" Hermione demanded to cover her embarrassment.

"Emily wouldn't let me leave you in your apartment or your shop" Malfoy told her and Hermione caught the flash of amusement in his eyes.

"So you just kidnap me and lock me ...where? What is this place?" Hermione asked, looking around wonderingly.

It was massive, the kitchen well stocked with every kind of kitchen appliance she'd ever seen, including a microwave and a few other muggle items but mostly wizarding things. The floor was white tiled, the bench-tops black marble, all of the appliances from the stove to the fridge where stainless steel. It was a cold, clinical sort of kitchen with little decoration and not much to invite one to sit and enjoy the large space.

"This is my apartment" Malfoy told her, looking concerned for her mental stability "I bought the building a few months ago, renovated it to make the penthouse all mine and have been selling off and renting out the rest of the apartments in the building."

"I didn't know you were in real estate" Hermione said, surprised "But then, I also didn't know you could look so strange... and I mean, I saw you as a ferret… so this is all incredibly unexpected. Especially me being here since I distinctly remember trying to bash your nose in with a book... several books actually. And on that note I think I've had enough weirdness for one night. I'm going to go. I'd thank you for not leaving me on the floor but I think we both know you would have if Emily wasn't so stern."

"You can't leave" Malfoy told her seriously, looking over at her and making Hermione realise that the whole time she'd been talking to him he'd been mixing up what looked like pancake batter with a spatula instead of a whisk like a normal person would use.

"What are you talking about?" Hermione asked hopping right back off his counter, surprised he hadn't growled at her for sitting on it in the first place "Of course I can leave. You and I aren't exactly friends Malfoy. In fact given the fact that you walk around dispensing rubbish advice and it's all your fault that Tom went berserk and called me a freak and an unnatural abomination and an utter psychopath - which has resulted in me rekindling all the forms of hatred I had managed to put aside concerning you after the war - I'd say you want me to leave so that I don't hex you into oblivion or stab you while you sleep."

"That's nice, but if you would stop and listen to the way you've been rambling like a nutter since you walked in here, you'd know that you can't leave since the only way to do so is via magical means or walking by yourself in the early hours of the morning. If you walk you'll get stabbed and raped for sure, and if you try to apparate you're going to splinch yourself. I don't even want to think about what will happen to you if you try to use the Floo Network. You'll probably wind up jammed inside some muggle fireplace that has been accidentally connected to the network and is a walled up. I can just imagine what a fiasco that would be."

"Don't try to pretend you care Malfoy. Besides, all of those things might hurt but they can't hurt any more than I do from this stupid broken heart that I have, which is entirely your fault. Now I'm leaving, so that's that!" Spinning, Hermione attempted to walk away from him but she didn't even make it across the kitchen before everything began to spin dizzily and Hermione groaned when she felt strong arms jerk her upwards, ending her body's downward plummet as she'd begun to fall.

"Blood hell Granger" Malfoy complained, hoisting her back to her feet again "I know I'm swoon worthy and all but this is getting ridiculous. What is wrong with you? You're emotional upheaval can't be so intense that it's thrown off your sense of balance and logical thinking. You're turning into a clumsy, rambling ninny. Have you taken drugs or missed too many meals or something?"

Hermione squeaked in fright when Malfoy jerked her up until she was cradled in his arms like some kind of bride or baby. She protested weakly when he carried her over and sat her back on the kitchen bench, waving his hand in front of her face like she was a blind person.

"Stop it" Hermione complained, pushing his waving hand away since it wasn't helping the way her head was still spinning.

"How many fingers am I holding up?" He asked her instead of listening to her command. Hermione squinted at his hand.

"Four?" She asked, not entirely certain since she could see through the dizziness.

"Three" Malfoy disagreed with her and Hermione could tell he was frowning now. She jumped when he suddenly pressed the inside of his wrist against her forehead, surprised by the contact.

"Get off me" Hermione grumbled, trying to push the wizard away from her while her mind recoiled at the idea of having Malfoy touching her. In response he jerked her body forwards, leaning her across his left arm and facing the floor. It spun dizzily and Hermione gasped when she felt his right hand sweep her hair out of the way before silky, warm lips pressed firmly against the back of her neck.

"What are you doing?" Hermione growled at him, uncomfortable being manhandled by her enemy and not at all pleased by the strange little flutter her stomach had given at the feel of his lips on her skin.

"Taking your temperature" Malfoy replied and Hermione suspected he might be smirking at her reaction to his close proximity.

"You've never heard of a thermometer?" Hermione demanded, pushing against him as she righted herself back into a sitting position so she could glare at him.

"Sure, but it's all the way over there in my medicine cabinet and I'm relatively certain that if I let go of you, you're going to slide off that bench and down into a pathetic Granger shaped puddle on my kitchen floor."

Hermione tried to think of something cutting to say in response but her mind was going fuzzy and she couldn't tell whether it was from the dizziness or being tired or if perhaps she was getting sick.

"So what's the verdict Nurse Malfoy?" Hermione asked him and feeling a little sense of satisfaction when he looked affronted at being called a nurse instead of a doctor or healer.

"You've got a high temperature, and from the way your eyes are so unfocused and glassy like that I'm going to go ahead and assume you've got a fever. Do you feel faint?" He replied.

Surprised at the fact that he appeared concerned at all, Hermione narrowed her eyes on him. What was going on that she'd wound up in his house? Since when did Draco Malfoy care about anyone but himself? Why would he even deign to help a lowly muggle-born witch like her?

"I'm dizzy" Hermione told him instead of voicing any of her questions.

"It's possible you might've been so emotionally distraught by the muggle leaving you that you've made yourself sick," Malfoy told her seriously.

Hermione stared at him blearily.

"What are you talking about Malfoy? Why are you even here? It's not like you care."

"I'm talking about the fact that you might be suffering the onset of the Heartbreak Sickness. It's unique to magic folk and can be triggered by any kind of emotional upheaval if it's serious enough."

Vaguely Hermione remembered reading about such a sickness after George Weasley had been diagnosed with it at the loss of Fred, his beloved twin and partner in crime.

"It might not be" Malfoy continued "It could just be that the upheaval left you vulnerable and you've caught the flu or something, which is much more likely."

"But why are you helping me?" Hermione asked him "Why am I in your house? If you didn't know how to get to Harry or Ron's, why not just take me to the Burrow or back to my flat?"

"Because I don't know where any of those places are, and if you'd woken up like this in your flat you'd probably be lying on your floor passed out somewhere right now, probably with a concussion from whatever you'd hit your head on when you fell….. And I'm not completely heartless; as you pointed out many times whilst pummelling me, it's partly my fault your muggle broke up with you."

"So you're helping me out of guilt" Hermione nodded, seeming to think that was a likely cause to explain his behaviour. Rather than responding to her statement, Draco tested her temperature with his wrist again.

"I'm going to move you over into that barstool there, and then you're going to eat something" he informed her and Hermione frowned at his bossiness before squeaking when he easily swept her back up in his arms and carried her around the bench to sit at his breakfast bar. The stool had arm-rests too, so that she wouldn't be able to sway sideways in her chair and fall out.

"How do you like your pancakes Granger?" Malfoy asked her as though it was the most natural thing in the world and Hermione wondered if it was the delirium or if it was possibly that Draco Malfoy could resemble someone with human emotions and a capacity for sympathy.

"Um…. With sugar and lemon juice" she replied deciding she wasn't alert enough to delve into the mysterious realm of Draco Malfoy's psyche.

He kept sneaking glances at her as he set about trying to cook her pancakes and Hermione became concerned for her health when he attempted to flip a pancake with a fork instead of an egg-flip.

"Do you have any idea what you're doing in that kitchen?" She asked him seriously.

"What are you talking about?" He asked looking over at her with a frown.

"You're doing it all wrong" Hermione told him.

"Listen here, little Miss Know-it-all" Malfoy began hotly, pointing at her with a now bent fork since he'd tried to flatten into the shape of a tiny, pathetic looking egg-flip imitation "Just because you're an expert on everything because you have no life outside of learning does not mean you can just waltz in here, sick, and start trying to dispense advice about my cooking skills."

"Have you always been this defensive?" She asked him mildly, amused by his rant "To be honest I thought you were cleverer than this… Weren't you competing against me in regard to grades at Hogwarts?"

Hermione could've sworn he'd begun to blush.

"And? You think you could do a better job with this?" He demanded, indicating to the sad, oval shaped pancake he'd managed to cook. One side of it was burnt black and Hermione cook tell from the way it was oozing on the plate that the other side was undercooked because he'd been afraid to burn it again.

Understanding dawned on her and even in her dizzy state Hermione could tell this was probably the first time he'd ever tried to cook pancakes. Smiling softly and wondering how to proceed without hurting his feelings after he'd been acting…. Decent…. Hermione wiggled around in her swivelling bar stool until she could slip out of it.

"I told you not to move from that chair until after you'd eaten" Malfoy said sternly when Hermione tottered around the bench towards him.

"Shhh" Hermione replied, to which he replied with an irritated grunt and another violent looking attempt at flipping the pancake he was currently mutilating.

"What are you doing?" he demanded when Hermione sidled up beside him, jostling sideways with a little shove against his hip.

"I need to get into the drawers" Hermione told him, still smiling.

"Why?" he asked, looking worried now even as he moved aside enough that she could open them.

She was surprised when she began pulling them open to find that he stored his cooking utensils the same way she did. Cutlery in the top drawer; utensils in the second; baking paper, alfoil and cling-wrap in the third; oven mitts, hot-plate-protectors and plastic bags in the bottom.

Rummaging around in the second, Hermione unearthed an egg-flip which she proceeded to hand to him whilst confiscating his destroyed fork.

"Use this to flip them" Hermione told him gently "It will slide under the whole pancake…. And you need to take that one out of there" she pointed to the pancake bubbling inside a saucepan, the likes of which she would use to cook stew.

"Why?" Malfoy asked suspiciously since it was far from done.

"That's not the right pan for cooking them, it's why you're having so much trouble flipping them and why the first one burned" Hermione explained, trying to keep her voice light since she didn't want to offend him when he was clearly trying so hard to cook them both something decent to eat.

"What am I supposed to use?" he asked and Hermione glanced at him out the corner of her eye while she was opening and closing cupboard in search of pots and pans.

"A frying pan or a skillet. I'm doubting you'll have a skillet since they run on electricity… aha!"

She could tell Malfoy snorted in amusement at her triumph, especially when she attempted to hold it up to show her victory and her dizziness caused her to fall backwards out of her squat to land on her butt on his floor. Grumbling under her breath at him for mocking her even though he was trying to be nice and cook her some food, Hermione clambered back to her feet, needing to clutch at the cupboards and bench tops when another wave of dizziness overtook her.

"You ok?" Malfoy asked her when she came back to his side and he noticed the sweat on her upper lip and the flushed pink of her cheeks from the effort it took just to stay standing. Hermione got the feeling that she was in trouble when she tried to nod and felt herself swoon faintly.

"Use this pan" Hermione whispered by way of answering "The bottom will heat faster, so you need to be aware of that or they'll burn again."

As she moved to hand him the bowl of batter, Hermione got a smear of the batter on her hand. When he took the bowl from her and began to pour too much batter into the pan, Hermione licked at the batter on her hand. Coughing at the awful taste, Hermione tried not to draw attention to herself. It was terrible. Bitter and not at all the way pancake batter should taste.

"What? What is it?" He asked her, catching her concerned glance at the batter.

"Um…."

"It's awful, isn't it?" He asked her, his shoulders slumping in defeat.

Hermione glanced around at the ingredient and utensils he had out on the bench from when he'd made it, all lying strewn everywhere around an open recipe book on the bench.

"Did you follow this recipe?" She asked him instead of answering. Malfoy nodded.

"Where's the teaspoon you used for the vanilla?" Hermione asked, worried now.

When Malfoy moved over and picked up a giant dessert spoon Hermione closed her eyes briefly, nodding in understanding.

"Erm…. That's not a teaspoon" Hermione told him when he looked confused and irritated. "This is a teaspoon… You accidentally put too much vanilla in, so it's gone rather bitter."

"But vanilla is sweet…" Malfoy protested weakly. In response Hermione picked up the spatula from the mix and offered some of the batter to him. His hands still full with the bowl, Malfoy licked it right off the utensil and Hermione tried to ignore the strange flutter in her tummy at the sight of his pink tongue swiping against the spatula.

He pulled a face of disgust at her when he realised how bitter it tasted.

"I suck at this" He grumbled, looking dejected and Hermione was surprised to see him admitting to defeat at all, let alone letting her see any kind of vulnerability from him.

"No you don't… You just need some practice" Hermione offered encouragingly. Malfoy stared at her drolly.

"I used the wrong pan, the wrong spoon, the wrong flipper device and way too much vanilla, resulting in burned, weird-looking plonker pancakes Granger, I'd say practice isn't really going to help me because I'd be practising the wrong things" He told her seriously.

"So maybe you need a little guidance too…. Let's try again" Hermione offered, pulling out her wand and vanishing the awful batter before waving it to clean up the ghastly mess he'd made with flour scattered everywhere, flecks of batter all over the counter and a crushed egg-shell that had fallen on the floor.

Hermione caught the flash of disbelief in Malfoy's eyes as she stumbled towards him to take the now empty mixing bowl from him and the way he let her take it without a fight. Dizziness battered at her again and when she swayed precariously forwards, Hermione felt his hands grasps her hips to keep her from falling on her face. It was a good thing he did, otherwise it was likely she would've head-butted the island bench where all the ingredients were laid out.

"You need to sit down Granger, or you're going to pass out on my floor before I can get you fed."

Pretending to ignore his words even though she could swear she heard a tone of concern in his voice, Hermione measured the flour into a cup before dumping the right amount into the bowl. She was reaching for the eggs to crack them when his large hand wrapped around hers, stilling its movement. Hermione felt a blush creep up her cheeks when she lifted her face to find his only inches from hers, peering at her intently. Staring into his grey eyes, Hermione felt momentarily mesmerised by the myriad of silver flecks amid those stormy grey pools.

"If you do it all, how will I learn?" he asked her in a soft voice and Hermione was surprised by the genuine amusement she saw on his face. Not the kind she'd expected from him, which had been that he would think she was just stomping in and taking over like the bossy know-it-all she could be, but genuine amusement as though he thought it was funny and perhaps even a little adorable that she was trying to take over while she was so dizzy that she could barely stand.

"You need a whisk to mix it right" Hermione murmured, still staring into his eyes.

"What's a whisk?" he asked her and Hermione saw the blank expression he wore for a second while he genuinely had no clue what she was talking about before puzzlement overtook his sharp features.

"In the second drawer over there. It will have lots of tines bent around on themselves" Hermione pointed, giving in to the dizziness and leaning heavily against the bench.

"This torture device?" he asked, holding up the whisk to show her. A surprised giggle escaped Hermione at his description. She supposed that if she'd never seen it before she'd wonder what it could possibly be used for too.

"That's the one" she sighed, feeling tiredness creep up and grab her.

"What do I do with it?"

"First you have to crack the eggs into the bowl with the flour…"

Malfoy nodded and Hermione watched in a horrified sort of fascination as he pulled a plate towards himself, picked up an egg in on hand and then dropped it onto the plate. It cracked by didn't come apart, so he repeated the strange process until it was a messy shattered looking disaster. Hermione raised her eyebrows when he crushed the remaining shell in his hands as he picked it up, letting the yolk and the egg-white drip back onto the plate. He spent an additional few minutes picking out bits of shell where they had broken into the destroyed egg.

"What are you doing?" Hermione asked him, trying not to laugh at his naivety or to sound too harsh with him. He was obviously trying hard to learn, but was just completely clueless.

"Cracking the egg?" he replied but Hermione could tell from the way he froze and looked at her uncertainly and with something that looked like hopeful fear on his face that he suspected he was doing it wrong.

"Oh Malfoy" Hermione sighed, smiling at him and wondering what kind of sickness this was that she'd actually for a moment thought him absolutely adorable.

"I'm doing it wrong, aren't I?" He said, blushing now.

"Well not necessarily," Hermione said, not wanting to hurt his feelings when he looked like a dejected little boy "That's effective, if somewhat tedious…. But there are easier ways to do it."

Reaching for an egg, Hermione jumped when her arm brushed against his.

"If you do it like this, it's much quicker" Hermione said, showing him the way she'd been taught, cracking the egg with a few light taps against the side of the bowl before digging her thumbs into the crack and pulling the two sides apart, letting the egg white and yolk fall into the flour mix.

"Now you try it" She told him "Maybe over the plate though, just in case. The first few times I tried I messed it up and got eggshell in the batter."

Pursing her lips Hermione watched him tap the egg too lightly against side of the plate to crack it. A little frown appeared on his face. The next time he struck it, Hermione blinked and fought back laughter. He'd struck it too hard and the egg shattered in his hand. He flinched and Hermione caught the way he glanced at her, clearly waiting for her laughter and derision since it wasn't as though they were actually friends.

"It takes some practice" Hermione offered gently, reaching for his messed hand and turning it so she could clean it magically. "Maybe it would be best if you learn to do this part with magic…"

"What do you mean do it with magic?" Malfoy asked and Hermione could tell he was fighting back the urge to snap at her and strike out in his embarrassment and frustration.

"Like this" Hermione said, waving her wand at one of the eggs in the carton and levitating it over the bowl "_Frangitova_" she said the incantation, showing him slowly. "Do you want to try?"

Pulling his wand from the pocket of his track pants Hermione watched him copy her, stating the incantation clearly. Hermione caught the way his eyes lit up with pleasure and the corners of his lips tilted upwards the tiniest bit when he did it flawlessly. He went to do it again, clearly liking the magic way of cooking.

"Hold it" Hermione said smiling "If you put any more eggs in we're going wind up with enough batter to feed a whole Quidditch team… You need to triple the amount of flour it says in the book now since you've added three eggs instead of one.

"Oops" Malfoy said but Hermione could tell he was too pleased by being able to actually do the egg-crack with magic without messing it up to really care about needing to add more flour and make a huge stack of pancakes.

Hermione smiled to herself when she saw the meticulous way he measured out the flour perfectly. She recognised instantly the actions of a fellow potioneer, knowing from experience how hard it was to break the habits of potion-making which called for perfection to avoid destroying a potion. It was a hard habit to break with cooking which had the possibility of being a little more flexible. Making a potion like the Draught of Living Death could end up killing the drinker if the ingredients weren't perfect and Hermione shuddered at the idea of trying to explain to a wizard that if he added a bit more flour than the recipe said, the world wouldn't end.

"Now what?" Malfoy asked her.

"Now you need the teaspoon" Hermione told him pointing to the small spoon "Measure out 3 times as much vanilla as the recipe says so that they'll be sweet."

"But last time I put in too much and it was awful" Malfoy protested.

"It will be ok" Hermione smiled reassuringly. Eyeing her a moment more, Malfoy did as he was told and Hermione grinned at him. "Now you need to whisk it. Stick that in there and swish it around until all the ingredients are combined."

This time Hermione couldn't help but giggle at him, suddenly realising how he'd made such a mess the first time. The whisk in his hand was like a weapon of destruction. Flicking it way too hard and without the right amount of control, flour and wet mix flicked everywhere.

"Whoa whoa whoa, stop" Hermione said, moving over and catching his hand to stop him from making even more mess.

"What?" Malfoy asked, looking at her confused "I swished it like you said."

"With control Malfoy" Hermione told him "Like this."

Taking the whisk from him, Hermione showed him slowly how to make the tiny circle with his wrist to mix it without losing half the batter to his apron and the bench top.

"You have to do it with the same control you use with a quill….." She told him, handing it back when the mix was half combined. When he tried it he went so slow that Hermione could tell he was one of those writers that wrote in big, loopy elegant quill strokes.

"You don't have to go that slow" She told him, reaching over and catching the back of his hand in hers, rearranging his grip on the utensil inside her own hand and moving it in the right way.

For several long minutes, Hermione whisked with him before she blinked and realised what she was doing. Blushing crimson, Hermione jerked her hand away trying not to think about the fact that she'd been surprised to learn that his hands were warm. She'd been expecting his skin to be cool to touch, but instead it had been warm and firm beneath hers. Stepping away from him, she tried to put some distance between herself and the fact that she'd just held his hand.

She could swear she heard him chuckle at her reaction but Hermione pretended not to notice. She stayed silent for the rest of the time as he cooked them both pancakes, smiling in spite of herself when he tried to flip the pancake in the pan without the eggflip. It flopped unceremoniously over the edge of the pan and he had to use his fingers to stick it back in again. It was somewhat amusing, Hermione decided, to watch Draco Malfoy standing in a kitchen shoeless and dressed for bed whilst cooking her pancakes.

She decided not to acknowledge the fact that her traitorous brain also found it surprising endearing the way he seemed to take such enjoyment from trying to cook, noting the little frowns of disappointment he wore when something didn't work, and the way he beamed happily when it did.

"Master, please. Won't you let Bartley cook your food?" a squeaky voice suddenly demanded and Hermione blinked blearily realising her eyelids must've drifted closed or perhaps even that she might've dozed off watching Malfoy cook. Blinking rapidly Hermione focused on the sight of a house Elf standing next to Malfoy, peering up at him pleadingly and surreptitiously trying to take the pan from Malfoy.

"Bartley" Malfoy sighed and Hermione wondered if perhaps he was tired of listening to the elf ask him that "You know it's not that your cooking isn't wonderful. It is. But I want to learn to do it for myself too."

"But Master…." The elf's bottom lip trembled and Hermione could tell he was about to burst into tears at the idea of his master cooking instead of asking the elf to do it. Hermione had learned the hard way during her time working for the Ministry that elves were easily offended in regard to their cooking skills and especially by the idea of their masters no longer wanting or needing them to do chores.

Catching sight of Hermione watching him, Malfoy's eyes fixed on her.

"I've got the cooking under control Bartley, but Granger over there isn't feeling well. She's got a high temperature and has been having dizzy spells. Do you think you could whip up something to make her feel better? Some medicine that will help her sleep and bring her fever down?"

"Begging your pardon Miss" the elf practically tripped over himself when he spotted that she was awake. "Bartley is not meaning to be so rude Miss. I did not know you was not sleeping no more."

Hermione narrowed her eyes on Malfoy knowing that the poor elf was probably going to go overboard trying to make her well in an attempt to make up for the fact that he wasn't being allowed to cook. Malfoy smirked at her and winked as the elf leapt up onto his counter pulling a medical box from inside his uniform to start treating her straight away.

"What is ailing you Miss? Why is you dizzy and feverish?"

"Erm…" Hermione began but Malfoy cut her off.

"She might be developing Heartbreak Sickness Bartley" he interrupted "It's probably just the flu, but please make sure you do a full check to make certain she's not going to die during the night or anything terrible."

Hermione scowled at him and squeaked in surprise because when she opened her mouth to cuss at Malfoy and tell them both that she was fine the elf stuck a thermometer straight into her mouth. Malfoy laughed and went back to cooking the huge stack of pancakes they were making, clearly unaffected by the evil eye Hermione kept shooting at his back.

"You is having a bit of a high temperature Miss. Bartley will make you a potion to bring it down. Master says you is dizzy too. Is it the spinning dizzy or the woozy dizzy?"

"Erm… Spinning dizzy, Bartley. But I'm sure I'll be fine with some food and sleep" She tried to assure the fussing elf. She regretted it immediately when the elf peered at her with those tennis-ball sized blue eyes as his bottom lip began to quiver and tremble.

She flinched and saw the way Malfoy jumped when the elf threw himself to the floor, crying and wailing "Why is no one letting Bartley help? What is Bartley doing wrong?"

The elf wiggled miserably, sobbing uncontrollably on the floor. "First Master is not letting Bartley cook for him no more even when he messes up his dishes and now Miss is not trusting Bartely's medicine! What is wrong with Bartley?"

"Bartley, Granger's out of her head with dizziness and trying not to show it. Please get up and give her some medicine. I need you to find out if she's going to have to be taken to St. Mungo's for Heartbreak Sickness of if she just needs some of your medicine to make her better." Malfoy told the elf quietly and Hermione was surprised by the way the cruel boy she had once known knelt down next to the sobbing elf and helped him back to his feet.

"Bartley will get the medicine Master" the elf said, seeming to have perked up at the idea of Hermione not knowing what she was saying and at being allowed to treat her after all.

"What did you go and upset my house elf for Granger?" Malfoy asked, turning to her with a smirk as Bartley ran out of the room.

"Me?" Hermione squawked defensively. "You're the one hurting his feelings by not letting him feed you."

"Because you taunted me about it and I had to prove I could do it," he pointed out "Once again making it your fault that Bartley is upset."

"He's your elf, if he's upset it's entirely your fault and no one else's."

"He's been throwing tantrums and sobbing like that since I bought that cookbook from you the other day" Malfoy told her, walking towards her with a stack of plates piled high with pancakes. He put them on the bench in front of her before going back to the cupboard and digging out strawberry jam and cream as well as lemon juice and a pot of sugar.

"They can be rather dramatic" Hermione replied "When I was pushing the legislation through for the Fair and Just Treatment of House Elves at the Ministry they were all hysterical. There were a few elves behind the movement, but most were offended and upset at the very idea. A group of them came into my office and let loose a cage full of pixies before apparating out and locking the doors."

"Seriously?" Malfoy asked her, looking incredulous "But they're so reverent of witches and wizards."

"Only when they're not feeling hurt and insulted by the idea of needing better working and living conditions. I tried to push through to have them paid a Galleon a week and the whole race went ballistic. They actually went on strike."

"I remember that" Malfoy said, forking a whole pancake into his mouth and chewing it before swallowing, the whole time leaning on the bench across from her. "Everyone was in an uproar because their elves wouldn't feed them and stopped cleaning and everything. Most wizards weren't happy by the idea of paying the elves either."

"It was a nightmare" Hermione told him, forgetting for a while that he was Draco Malfoy – the boy who'd picked on her at Hogwarts, who'd been her rival and a pain in the rear most of the time she'd ever known him, who'd even given her the bad advice to tell Tom – and choosing instead to see where the idea of a civil evening with him could go.

"The elves were striking, the people were campaigning and petitioning against it, and there's me in the middle looking at all of them and trying to point out to the elves why they deserved to be treated with respect and decency and then trying to explain to the people that if they didn't want to pay the elves to do all the things they didn't know how to do or simply wouldn't deign to do, they could do the bloody chores themselves."

"You got a lot of bad press over that one" Malfoy agreed.

"I got more hate mail over that than I did after you told Rita Skeeter lies about me two timing Harry and Viktor Krum during the Triwizard Tournament. It was out of control. I had to practice extinguishing spells because some of the howlers I got would burst into flames and stay flaming while whatever else was in the vicinity tried to burn as well."

Hermione smirked when Malfoy had the decency to blush just a little bit at the reminder of the nasty things he'd done to her in the past. Before either of them could comment again around their mouthfuls of pancake, Bartley came flapping into the room on his flat feet again, clutching a goblet of some sort of potion that Hermione assumed would help her dizziness.

"Here you go Miss, this should make you feel better" Bartley said, offering Hermione the goblet.

"Thanks you Bartley" Hermione said, accepting it and sipping from the Goblet. The elf looked pleased and somewhat embarrassed to be thanked for helping her.

"Will there be anything else you need Miss?"

"No I think I'll be ok, thank you" Herimone smiled at the elf.

"Did you get that monster under control Bartley?" Malfoy asked the elf and Hermione glanced at him, concerned.

"Yes master. He didn't seem to like you, but once you was gone he settled right done to sleep in Miss Granger's room."

"My room?" Hermione asked, confused. "What are you talking about 'my room'? I'm not sleeping here Malfoy."

Looking amused Malfoy smirked at her "You've been sleeping here all day Granger. This time you can sleep in the guest room instead of on the couch in front of the fireplace."

"You mean the guest room with the monster in it that you sent your elf to deal with?"

"He's your bloody monster, so yes, I had Bartley lock him in your room since he tried to claw my face off the minute I let him out of the bloody cage."

"You kidnapped Crookshanks as well?" Hermione demanded.

"As if I would ever want to kidnap you or that evil monster" Malfoy began hotly "But since you were unconscious and Emily was under the impression that I knew how to get to Potter's house, she figured it wouldn't do to let that beast starve without you."

Hermione stared at Draco Malfoy for a little while after that, nibbling at her pancakes while she did and wondering how it could possibly be that a boy who'd once been so cruel to her could have grown into a man like this. He seemed… decent. He was still arrogant, but Hermione had already witnessed his ability to admit defeat and acknowledge when he was doing something incorrectly. In addition to that, instead of cruelly leaving her on the floor in her shop, he'd brought her here, even making room for her inside his house.

He'd even made room for Crookshanks, and Hermione knew that most of her friends would not have been so accommodating. Ron refused to let Crookshanks anywhere near him most of the time, and even Tom hadn't been that fond of the ferocious cat. Malfoy may not be all that fond of him since the cat hat had tried to claw his face off, but he hadn't done anything mean to the cat in response. She could tell by the way he'd let Bartley deal with Crookshanks instead.

As she stared at him she noticed that he was watching her cautiously, clearly expecting her to yell at him. Hermione fought the urge to smile when she realised that in spite of the trouble he'd instigated by antagonising her into telling Tom she was a witch, he had definitely changed in the past eight years. There was no way that the Draco Malfoy she'd known at Hogwarts would've been so considerate and concerned for her health, catching her before she could fall several times and ensuring she was given medicine and something to eat to help her feel better.

Wondering to herself how it could be that the boy she'd known had grown into such a man, Hermione turned to Bartley, who was looking between her and his master as though worried they were going to argue.

"Bartley… would you mind terribly making some hot chocolate?" Hermione asked the elf, smiling when he looked delighted.

"Right away Miss."

"You're not going to say anything else?" Malfoy asked finally when he'd watched Hermione eat another pancake.

"Did Crookshanks hurt you?" she asked mildly "He can be rather vicious with people he doesn't like, and he may have been taught to hate you whilst we were at Hogwarts."

"You taught your cat to hate me?" Malfoy asked, looking irritated now.

"No, though Ron and Ginny may have attempted to teach him to attack on command with a dummy they made that looked like you…." Hermione said "And he's part Kneazle, so he's smart enough to know you haven't always been nice to me."

She heard him mutter some less than favourable things under his breath about Ron and Ginny but he didn't say anything else to her.

"Here you is, Miss" Bartley said, giving her a mug of hot chocolate before going to Malfoy "Master, Batrley is making you one as well."

"Thanks Bartley" Hermione and Draco said simultaneously before glancing at each other.

Hermione drank her drink and finished her meal in silence, feeling the potion beginning to take effect as she wilted tiredly again.

"I suppose I'd best show you to your room before you fall asleep there again" Malfoy said finally and Hermione looked up at him blearily.

Getting to her feet, Hermione let him point her out of the kitchen, leaving Bartely to clean up their cups and plates. When she tottered on her feet, she felt the ghost of his hands against her and smiled sleepily to know that he still wasn't going to let her fall, even if she did have a cat she could command to attack him.

"It's this door on the left" Malfoy showed her, putting his hand on the handle but not opening the door. "I'll let you go in on your own so that monster doesn't try eating me again… Bartley should've laid out some towels and things for you in the en suite if you want to bath before bed or when you get up tomorrow. He probably unpacked your things into the drawers and cupboards too, when you want fresh clothes. I don't know what Emily packed for you, but she did it so don't blame me."

Hermione peered up at him, noticing suddenly that he was perhaps half a foot taller than her and that when he looked so comfortable and laid back with his hair all messy like that, he was sort of handsome. Shaking herself mentally at the idea of her sickness-addled brain thinking such thoughts Hermione cleared her throat.

"Thank you" Hermione murmured to him "For not leaving me on the floor in my shop… and for feeding me and taking care of me."

He looked embarrassed by her acknowledgement of his actions and Hermione grinned.

"No problem," he replied "Let Bartley or me know if you need anything else…. Night Granger."

Hermione watched him look at her for a moment longer, a little frown wrinkling his brow before he turned and walked off further down the hall in the direction she assumed must lead to his bedroom.

"Goodnight Malfoy" Hermione replied, before turning the handle and locking herself into the guest room he'd given her for the night.

* * *

**A/N: And that's the last of my pre-written chapters so don't be hankering too much for an update until i can get one written ok? Pretty please review and show me your love and any ideas you have on how you see the story going. I love trying to include them. **

**xx-Kitten =)**


	5. A Twisted Turn of Events

**Chapter 5: A Twisted Turn of Events**

Draco woke with an irritated groan to hear the impossibly loud sound of that damned cat growling and yowling from the guest room.

"Master is you awake?" Bartley's squeaky voice added to the assault of sound on his sleep-deprived brain and Draco opened his eyes blearily to glare at the elf.

"What is it Bartley? Tell me it involves coffee and something delicious for breakfast" Draco grumbled without sitting up.

"Sorry Master, Bartley is not making you coffee yet. It's Miss in the other room, Master. Her cat has been yowling for some time now Master, in what Bartley thinks is distress…."

"Oh Bollocks" Draco growled, coming awake fully with a curse and leaping out of bed, recalling what Granger had said about her cat being a Kneazel. He darted out of the room with the elf on his heels and didn't even bother knocking when he reached the door. Flinging it open, Draco and Bartley rushed into the room to be greeted by the highly distressed ball of orange fur and a sight that stopped Draco's heart.

Dressed in an oversized red t-shirt, Hermione Granger was lying on the floor in the doorway that led to the guest room en-suite. Her curly brown hair was a mess and he cursed in fear when he saw that parts of it were dark and matted. Since her head was lying in a pool of blood on his carpet, he assumed that it was also blood in her hair.

"Granger?" He called, dropping down next to her and rolling her over. She gave no response and Draco hissed when his hand brushed against her arm. She was burning up. Her cheeks were flushed dark red and even the skin on her arms was uncomfortably warm against his.

She had a large gash on her forehead where Draco assumed she must've head-butted the doorframe on the way to the shower.

"Fuck!" He cursed when he shook her and nothing happened.

"Bartley, find Healer Morrigan. Tell him he needs to be able to treat a witch who has a really high fever and has lost consciousness, resulting in a nasty head wound. Tell him to come prepared to treat Heartbreak Sickness. Bring him here as fast as you can. I don't care where he is or what he's in the middle of."

"Yes Master" Bartley said before he disappeared with a crack.

"Come on Granger, wake up!" Draco commanded of the witch, dragging her into his lap and patting her cheek gently, trying to rouse her.

He went to remove his shirt to staunch the blood still gushing from her head wound before cursing to realise he wasn't wearing one. Her cat lingered beside him and Draco turned to it, knowing how clever Kneazles were.

"I know you don't like me" he told it, still trying to wake Granger "But if you go to my study down the hall, into my bedroom, I need my wand to heal this cut before she bleeds to death. Can you do that?"

The cat was a streak of orange fur before he's even finished speaking, scampering out the door and away.

"Bloody hell, Granger. Wake up! Wake up you insufferable know-it-all! You're the one who knows how to handle panicky situations!"

The cat bounded back into the room with his wand in it's mouth and dropped the wand onto Hermione's lap since she was currently in his. Snatching it up Draco began murmuring healing spells, trying to seal the cut. It was quite deep, making him think she must've lost consciousness as she walked towards the bathroom and slammed into the doorframe full-force. He saw no other marks on her when he looked to see if she had scraped her hands or damaged her wrists trying to catch herself as she fell.

He watched as the orange cat became more and more distressed even though she was no longer bleeding profusely. It kept butting it's head against her body, nudging her hands and then climbing onto her stomach and nuzzling into her chin as though hoping that would wake her. When that got no response, Draco watched the cat go back to her hand and bite her gently, not hard enough to break the skin, but enough that it probably smarted, clearly hoping it might rouse her.

"She'll be ok" Draco told the cat "There's a healer on the way."

Just as he finished speaking there was a sharp crack and Bartley materialised clutching onto the arm of a particularly disgruntled looking wizards with a long brown beard wearing Healer's robes.

"Bloody Hell Draco!" Morrigan grumbled "What's all the fuss?"

He opened his mouth to ask something else but even as he did Draco watched his eyes widen as they landed on the familiar face of Hermione Granger.

"Is that Hermione Granger?" He asked.

"Obviously."

"Blimey, what's she doing here with you?"

"Is that really important right now? If you've been reading the papers you probably know about the issues of her and that muggle falling apart… She was dizzy last night, and slept most of yesterday. For fifteen hours actually. When she woke up I fed her some pancakes though she was delirious and kept stumbling and almost falling. Bartley gave her something for a mild fever, but she's burning up."

"Sounds like the onset of Heartbreak Sickness" Morrigan replied, kneeling beside her and holding his wrist to her forehead before jerking it back in surprise.

"Bloody hell, she's burning up. Get her into that shower, run the cold tap. You'll have to hold her up. If we don't get her fever down she's going to get brain damage or her magic is going to implode."

"Fuck" Draco cursed rolling to his feet with her in his arms and running into the bathroom even as Bartley turned on the cold tap. He hissed in indignation when the cold water slid down his back like ice, not bothering with the fact both he and Granger wore opposing end garments of clothing and little else.

"Whose blood is this?" Morrigan asked, examining the large puddle.

"Hers. I woke up to her cat yowling like a banshee and found her unconscious on the floor with a huge gash on her head. I healed it to keep her from bleeding anymore."

"Good. I'm going to need Blood-Replenishment potions, something for that fever and you said she's been dizzy too?"

Draco nodded, his teeth beginning to chatter as his body temperature plummeted under the icy spray, Hermione hung limp in his arms, slumped forwards. The floor of the shower was tinged pink with blood and she wasn't moving. If it weren't for the rapid and solid thump of her heart against his forearm where it curled across her chest, Draco would've thought her dead.

In the bedroom the healer had pulled out several phials and ingredients, along with other medicines, setting them up beside her bed after transfiguring the storage chest at the end of the bed into a medical table.

"Is she still burning to the touch?" he asked, coming into the bathroom.

"Yes" Draco said, her body still uncomfortably hot against his chest even though he himself was shivering and watching his skin turn purple with cold.

"Bollocks." The healer cursed. "Bartley, fill the tub with ice-water, as fast as you can. Draco, get out of there before you catch cold. It's not cold enough to fix her, lay her down in the bathtub and get yourself some dry clothes. When you're done I suggest you send an urgent owl to her friends while I wake her and begin administering medicines."

Draco did as he was bid; waving his wand to dry himself despite the way he winced at the feel of the frigid water he'd lowered her into in the rapidly filling bathtub. Her head lolled on the rim and her cat was perched beside her still trying to wake her.

Hurrying from the room even as the healer entered the bathroom clutching several phials and potions and his wand, Draco raced into his study.

**_You Sods (Potter, Weasley and Potterette)_**

**_Granger is very unwell. She is currently in my place of residence and being attended by a healer. We suspect she has developed Heartbreak Sickness._**

**_Come to: Apartment 7, Corbel Street, Hoxton._**

**_She has been suffering from dizziness and a fever. Currently she is with the healer in an ice bath, completely unconscious. If we are unable to lower the temperature she may suffer brain damage or her magic may implode._**

**_Don't throw a tizzy. She willingly stayed here. _**

- **_Draco Malfoy._**

"Bartley!" Malfoy shouted, waiting for the elf to pop in beside him even as he made three copies of the letter. "Owls are too slow. Take these to Harry Potter, Ginny Potter and Ron Weasley. I have no idea where they are. Don't stick around trying to explain, just deliver the letters and get back here."

"Bartley will find them, Master" the elf replied, taking the letters and disappearing with a crack.

He hurried back into the guest room to find Morrigan force feeding a very weak and dazed-looking Granger potions.

"You're awake" Malfoy exclaimed, inwardly sighing with relief to see that she wasn't in fact, dead, as he had begun fearing she soon would be.

"What have you done to me?" she asked, her voice no more than a tired whisper.

"I think you tripped on the way to the bathroom" Draco told her, watching the way her eyelids kept trying to flutter closed.

"What time is it?" she asked him and Draco checked his watch.

"A little after one" He replied.

"In the afternoon?" her eyes bulged. Draco nodded.

"Oh no" she moaned pathetically. "Emily will be at the shop. She'll be all by herself, probably being hounded by those bloody reporters. I have to…" She trailed off when the healer held her down as she tried to rise from the icy tub.

"She'll be fine" Draco told her.

"Could you check on her? Please?"

"You might as well Draco. You're no use here right this second and if she worries and elevates her heart rate again I don't know if I'll be able to save her."

"Bollocks!" Draco cursed before turning on the spot and apparating right into Granger's book shop.

"Draco?" Emily asked when he hurried out to the main desk.

"Yes. Listen, Granger's ill. Desperately so. She's being attended by a Healer right now, but she asked me to tell you to not bother with work for a few days. She's too sick to come in."

"Oh it's no trouble for me to be here" Emily said "Is she alright?"

"No. She's not. And worrying about you being here is making her condition worse. She's got Heartbreak Sickness and if we can't get her temperature and heart rate down her magic will implode and she'll die." Draco tod her "Just take the days off, and maybe owl her to let her know. She passed out on the way to the shower and almost bled out this morning."

"Oh my god!" Emily exclaimed "Ok, I'll lock up and put a sign in the window to say we'll be closed due to maintenance or something for a week or two."

"Thank you. I need to go or her friends are going to storm my apartment while I'm not there to corral them."

"What's she doing at you're apartment?" Emily asked, intrigued in spite of the serious situation.

"I didn't know where Potter lived when I left here yesterday, so I just took her to my place. She slept all day yesterday until I fed her pancakes at two this morning."

"Wow!" Emily exclaimed "Well, thanks for looking after her, even after she went mental at you. Tell her I'll lock up for two weeks here unless she owls me otherwise."

"Fine. I'll see you." He said before he turned on the spot and apparated back to his apartment again, just in time to see Potter stepping out of his fireplace.

"Malfoy?" Potter asked him "What happened, I got your letter and came as soon as I could. Ron's on his way too."

"She passed out yesterday after she went mental at me. I was going to bring her to your house but she was out of it and I don't know where you live. She slept for fifteen hours and then was dizzy and feverish when she woke up during the night. I fed her and put her to bed in the guest bedroom, but when I woke up this morning her cat was going mental. When I ran in there she was on the floor in a pool of blood. We think she must've passed out and hit her head. She's got a really high fever and is currently in an ice-bath. Healer Morrigan's with her."

"Is she alright?"

"No. We think she has Heartbreak Sickness. It's rare, but the type of upheaval she went through is likely to trigger it."

"What's she doing with you?" Potter asked him seriously as he followed Draco into the bedroom where Hermione was, frowning when he caught sight of the large puddle of blood still on the floor, which had now expanded to several bloody footprints on his carpet where he, Crookshanks and Healer Morrigan had trekked through it.

"I ran into her at her shop the other day looking for a book." Draco offered as a way of explanation "I was there again yesterday when she passed out and Emily asked me to take her to your wife."

"Hermione, are you ok?" Potter called, clearly concerned when he saw Morrigan forcing more potions into the dazed girl shivering in his guest bathtub.

"Harry?" she asked weakly, her eyes unfocused as she tried to look at him. "Where's Malfoy? Did Emily close the shop?"

"She's putting up a sign saying you're doing maintenance and will be closed for a few weeks until you get better Granger" Draco told her.

"Auror Potter, Malfoy, could you help me get her out of the bath. I've brought her temperature down with the cold water and some potions but if it gets too low she'll be in more danger."

"I've got it" Draco said, reaching down and scooping the now shivering girl out of the icy water before Potter could even roll up his sleeves.

"Harry, a drying spell. Draco, get her back into bed. She's going to have to rest for a few days, and she's going to sleep a lot. It would be unwise to move her."

"She can stay here. It's no trouble" Draco told them "I've got the space and it's not like I have to be anywhere, so I can make sure she doesn't end up like this again."

He waved his hand indicatively at the blood stain on the floor.

"Don't you have business to run?" Potter asked him.

"Sure, but it's only real estate. I can have my assistant juggle my appointments and postpone them if need be."

"Why are you… being so…. Nice?" Granger asked him even as he slipped her in between the sheets of the guest bed and tucked the blankets to her chin.

"Guilt, mostly" Draco grinned at her for a second, reminding her of their conversation from the previous night.

"Guilt?" Weasley's voice came from the door, sounding menacing.

"I, uh, may have been the one to suggest telling that muggle she was a witch when I ran into her the other day. He seemed decent enough. Thought he'd be able to handle it." Draco said, stepping back from the bedside and rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly "She already went mental at me about it. Pummelled me and hit me over the head with several book before she passed out in her shop yesterday."

"What have you been doing lurking around her shop?" Weasley growled.

"Buying books" Draco shrugged.

"When you're all quite finished" Healer Morrigan said, calling for their attention "Miss Granger is suffering the early effects of Heartbreak Sickness. We may have caught this in time to keep her from becoming completely afflicted, but to be sure she is going to need to take these medications every hour for the next three days with food. In addition to that, her temperature needs to be monitored. I've used a charm that will alert me at work and at home if it spike or plummets outside the regular temperature. She needs to be kept calm and warm and well-fed."

"We should take her to your house Harry" the Weasel piped up.

"That would be unwise. As I understand it, Mrs Potter is currently pregnant?"

"She is" Harry confirmed with a nod of his head.

"Pregnancy is a temperamental thing in witches, and being exposed to Heartbreak Sickness could cause problems for Mrs Potter and the unborn child. If this isn't Heartbreak Sickness and is just a nasty fever brought on by the recent emotion upheaval of Miss Granger, the condition could be passed on to Mrs Potter, which would likely cause her to miscarry. In fact, I recommend keeping her away from Miss Granger until she heals to ensure the safety of all."

"We can take her to my place" Weasel said.

"She shouldn't be moved, and Mr Malfoy has already volunteered to take several days off to assist Miss Granger here." Healer Morrigan said.

"Like we trust Malfoy to take care of her. What is Hermione even doing here?" the Weasel demanded and Draco wanted to cross his eyes in frustration, feeling the effects of not yet having his morning coffee.

"She passed out yesterday and Malfoy didn't know where any of us live" Potter explained, smirking a little when he saw Malfoy's expression.

"So he just kidnapped her?"

"Bartley, I'm going to need coffee if I have to keep listening to this moronic babble" Draco told his elf.

"Bartley will bring you some Master" the elf smiled, knowing his master well.

"I'm not leaving Hermione here with him Harry" the Weasel continued his ears turning red.

"You have to…." A breathy voice said, drawing the attention of all four men in the room. Draco frowned a little when he noticed how dazed and weak Granger looked curled up in the bed. Morrigan was still forcing Blood Replenishment potions into her and she looked half-drowned from what they'd had to do to get her temperature down.

"Like Hell I do 'Mione. You can't stay here with him. It's probably his fault that you're sick in the first place."

"Ron…. Norah is…. Pregnant too…" Granger managed to get out, shocking everyone in the room.

"What are you talking about 'Mione?" the red-haired moron demanded, clearl not believing her.

"Those 'lunches' Ginny, Norah and I have been having…. They weren't lunches. They were appointments at the hospital….. Norah's pregnant…. If I come to your house…. She'll get sick too…."

"Bloody hell" the Weasel turned an unhealthy shade of white in shock. "Why didn't she tell me?"

"Surprise" Granger murmured and Draco kind of liked the way her expression suggested sarcasm, though her two moronic friends clearly thought she was simply too weak to elaborate beyond that one word and so was using it an explanation.

"So, as discussed, Granger will be staying here until she's cured. You lot can come and go as you like." Malfoy said, reaching down and taking the coffee mug Bartley was trying to hand him "Thanks Bartley."

"They can't come and go as they please" Morrigan interrupted before the elf could suggest making food for anyone else.

"You can't keep us out" Weasley growled, seeming to recover from his shock at the idea of anyone telling him what to do.

"Yes I can. You both have pregnant partners. If this isn't Heartbreak Sickness, you may contract the infection and pass it on to your spouses, risking their lives and those of your unborn children." Morrigan said sternly "Until Miss Granger recovers it would be unwise for either of you to spend prolonged periods in her presence."

"I'll be alright…." The ill witch said, making Draco feel kind of bad about this whole things having been cause due to his ill-advised taunt that she tell her muggle she was a witch "Malfoy hasn't killed me yet."

"Well isn't that comforting" Weasley argued, still looking like he didn't at all like the idea.

"It's not like I'm going to let her die. If I wanted that I'd still be in bed and she'd still been bleeding out on the floor." Draco told them, losing his patience with them both being so ridiculously stubborn and moronic.

"This is her blood?" Weasley demanded, pointing to the blood on the floor.

"She passed out and hit her head on the way to the shower," Draco explained.

"And where were you when all this was happening?" the ginger snarled, suddenly looking suspicious of the fact that Hermione wore an oversized man's shirt.

"In bed" Draco admitted.

"In here?"

"This isn't my room" Draco curled his lip "This is my guest room. My room is next door."

"Then why is Hermione wearing your shirt?"

"It's not my shirt" Draco protested, realising the Weasel at least thought he must be sleeping with Granger, clearly unable to rationalise any other explanation for the witch to have been staying at his place.

"Then who's shirt is it?"

"Gee, I don't know Weasley, maybe it belongs to her ex-boyfriend. The one who ditched her like a tosser and caused her sickness in the first place."

"This garment belongs to the man responsible for her illness?" Morrigan asked sharply, tugging the blankets back slightly from Granger's red shirt clad torso. Granger nodded at him since the other three had no idea.

"Off!" Morrigan barked, already digging under the covers for the hem "Get it off! How do you expect me to cure you while you wear that? No wonder your condition worsened overnight."

"But I'm…." the weakened witch began to protest, before hissing when Morrigan dragged the shirt up over her head. Draco wasn't the only one in the room who spun around to protect her modesty the moment he caught a glimpse on the underside of her breasts beneath that shirt.

"I apologise, Miss Granger" he heard Morrigan say, "But it's for your safety that you lose this shirt. In fact, I must insist that all garment of clothing and other belongings owned by your ex-boyfriend should be burned for you safety."

"How much more of his stuff do you still have Hermione?" Potter asked her, still with his back turned to protect her modesty even though Draco had glanced back over his shoulder and noticed she'd covered up under the covers.

"A few shirts… a jumper….. maybe some socks" Granger whispered, sounding like she was moments from drifting off to sleep.

"Where are they?" Weasley asked her.

"At my flat…"

"We'll go and take care of it" Potter told her.

"But they're comfy…." Granger protested.

"They're part of the reason you're so sick. You know the effects we have on our possessions. You could've died Hermione! If Draco hadn't found you, you'd probably be dead on the floor here." Potter said, finally turning back to face her and pointing at the blood stain on the floor.

"But…." She trailed off and slumped back into the pillows, her eyelids fluttering closed.

"She's fallen asleep." Morrigan said "Someone burn this and the other things that muggle left behind. Make sure you go to her place and get all of it. If she gets better and goes back there she might find something and make herself sick over it again."

"We'll take care of it" Potter promised.

"Good. Then you'd best both be on your way to get that taken care of. Don't want to risk infection if it's not Heartbreak Sickness."

"Hold on" Malfoy said, going over to the draws where he could see Granger had unpacked her suitcase. He knew Emily had packed her suitcase for her and the muggle wouldn't know not to pack things that might've belong to Tom.

"What are you doing, going through her things?" Weasley demanded.

"She said she's got more of his stuff, and Emily packed her suitcase. There's bound to be more in here." He said digging through the draw "Aha!"

Draco unearthed a pair of ratty looking football socks and a baggy man's jumper in the pile.

"That's not his" Weasley said "But Emily probably though it was. It's mine. I didn't know 'Mione still had it."

"Well, you might as well take it with you" Morrigan said, "She may have forgotten it's yours and the brain is a powerful thing. If she thinks it's his it will have the same effect as if it actually were."

Draco held the socks out to Potter and offered the jumper to Weasley. He hesitated, glancing at Granger for a moment with a strange expression on his face before he resignedly took the jumper, tucking it under his arm.

"I'm going to head off as well. Now that she's sleeping she's out of danger. Draco, every hour you need to wake her and give here these" Healer Morrigan indicated to a bottle of table and some phials of potion. "She needs to take two of the pills and one of the phials with food. Nothing too heavy, just snack food like toast or crackers. They'll make her hungry but don't let her have anything to heavy and nothing too sweet. No chocolate in any form, not even hot chocolate. Chicken soup is my recommendation. It's healthy and filling. When she's not eating or using the bathroom, she needs to be resting."

"I understand" Draco said, nodding his head and glancing at Bartley, who was taking note of the food specifications since he would be the one doing the cooking. Draco didn't want to risk poisoning her with whatever he could concoct.

"Very good, well then, I'll be back to check her around seven tonight" Healer Morrigan said before bidding them goodbye, turning on the spot and apparating away.

"I don't like this Harry" Weasley said, glaring at Draco and making Draco wish he had more coffee, having already finished his first one.

"There's nothing to be done for it. Besides, Draco's not going to upset her or make her worse" Potter argued, though Draco caught the significant look the Auror gave him that suggested the argument was more of a warning.

"If she gets worse and we find out it's in some way your fault, Malfoy" Weasley threatened, getting in his face and making Draco want to hex him "I'm going to personally see to it that they never find all the little pieces I'm going to make of you."

"Easy, Ron" Potter said, though his expression suggested he would be right by his friend helping to follow through on that threat should Draco let anything befall Granger.

"I'm not going to make her worse. I'm just going to drug her and routinely feed her until she's well enough to leave my house" Draco said, holding his hands up to fend off their aggression even though he kind of wanted to say something smart just to watch Weasley choke on his rage.

"You better not take advantage of her while she's weak" Weasley said.

"You mean weak and naked, like when I was in the shower with her earlier?" Draco couldn't resist taunting.

"You what?"

"Oh, didn't I mention that?" he asked, smirking now "I was in the shower with her earlier. She was very chummy about it too, leaning on me and everything."

He'd never enjoyed the shade of puce so much as when it slowly overtook Weasley's face.

"Of course, she was unconscious and burning up with fever at the time, but why let the fact get in the way of perfectly decent taunting material?" Draco added with an amused shrug.

"That wasn't funny" Potter told him. Draco's expression suggested otherwise but Potter didn't comment on the matter further. "Please just take care of her and keep us posted on how she's doing. We'll try to stop in every night with Morrigan is here."

"Relax Potter, she's safe here. Besides, she's going to be asleep for most of her stay if the current trend she's got going is any indication anyway, so I don't know why you're both getting you're wand in a knot."

"Gee, could it be because you're a tosser and on more than one occasion have said and done things that make us uncomfortable and doubtful concerning your ability to look after her?" Weasley asked sarcastically.

"From what I understand, she's not above hitting people who annoy her. I'm sure she'll be fine." Draco retorted.

"I think we should hex him to make sure he keep in line" Weasley said, turning to Potter seriously. Draco was a little amused when Potter rolled his eyes at Draco from behind Weasley when the red-head turned back to glare at him for snorting.

"I don't think that would endear him to wanting to help us by taking care of our friend Ron" Potter offered reasonably "Let's just go. If we keep arguing in here we're going to wake her up and the healer said she needs to rest. Draco, keep us posted on her and we'll stop by tomorrow to check on her."

With that Potter took hold of Weasley's arm and dragged the grumpy ginger out of Draco's guest room, down the hall and into the fireplace. Draco listened to the roar of his fire as both of the Flooed away, finally leaving him in peace.

"Would Master like some breakfast?" Bartley asked brightly grinning up at him.

"Gods yes, and more coffee" Draco groaned, eyeing Granger before remembering that she was naked under those blankets.

He walked over to the chest of drawers where her clothes were and dug through them, looking for something to leave her for her to put on when she next woke up, but it seemed Emily had done a poor job of pack for her. There were a few flimsy looking things that he supposed could be counted as shirts, but they were sleeveless and thin. In fact they were the type of thing one might wear during the summer. In Australia. Or somewhere equally as hot.

They were not the sort of clothing to be worn by an ill witch in the middle of a London winter.

"What would you like for breakfast today Master?" Bartley asked him when Draco turned back around after closing the drawer.

"Something with bacon in it, please." He replied, "And when you've got time, do you think you could see what you can do to get rid of this stain?"

"Of course Master!" the elf crowed, clearly pleased to learn that Draco actually intended to let him cook the food again while Granger was ill "Bartley will make the food and then fix the floor."

"Thanks. I'm going to get her something to wear." Draco told the elf before he looked down and realised that Bartley was already racing out of the room, delighted at the prospect of cooking him breakfast. Granger's cat followed him down the hall and into his bedroom when Draco went in search of something he could give her to wear.

He dug out a few of his t-shirts and one of his old Quidditch jersey's from Hogwarts that he thought might fit her slender frame. Crookshanks jumped up on his bed and twitched his tail.

"What?" Draco asked the cat "Just because it's Slytherin colours doesn't mean she can't wear it."

The cat stared at him in a way that made Draco think the creature was too smart for its own good.

"Everything else I have that will keep her warm enough is likely to end up choking her when it gets tangled around her while she moves in her sleep. Do you want her drowning in fabric and choking to death because of clothing just because you think she won't like wearing Slytherin colours?"

The cat narrowed its eyes on him but made no noise of protest so Draco picked up the jersey and the small stack of shirts and took them back into her room. Crookshanks jumped up on the bed with her and settled himself in a crook of her arm where it was defined beneath the covers.

While Draco carried the clothes over and laid them out on the spare pillow by her head, the cat watched his every movement. Draco suspected that until his mistress was well again, that damn cat was going to annoy the shit out of him looking all disdainful and superior. He also knew without a doubt that though he had no intention of it, if the cat thought he was doing something untoward to his mistress, the little beast would probably claw the hell out of him or maybe even sneak into his room while he was asleep and curl up on his face, suffocating him.

"We're going to save to get a few things straight here" Draco told the cat still eyeing him coldly "I'm going to help her get better. If that involves manhandling her back into a shower if her temperature spike or plummets. I will. If it involves having to carry her to the damn bathroom, I'll do it, naked or not. If it involves force feeding her medication and food to get her well, I will do it. And while I'm doing those things, you're not going to bite, scratch or even so much as hiss at me because it will be for her own good. In addition to that, you are going to stay with her and yowl like crazy whenever she wakes up if I'm not in here. You are also going to use that litter box in the bathroom that Bartley set up for you, there'll be no pissing on my floors, and in return for that courtesy, I'll feed you proper cuts of meat rather than kibble. Are we clear?"

Draco didn't know why, but it made him smirk when the cat settled down on Granger's chest, closed its eyes and began to purr.


End file.
